《It Snows》
Part 1 - Chapter 1: Throwback
Women are really difficult to comprehend, aren''t they? There are moments when it seems like you need a damn college degree to fully comprehend them.
I liked a girl when I was in the eighth grade her name was Lianne she was a little weird. I didn''t even know if I liked her or not because I was only forced to respond to a question without knowing who I really liked, so I just mentioned her name because she was my dance partner at a school event.
I played it off because it would make a lot of sense, and today she is one of my only female best friends. I had no idea that talking to women wasn''t that difficult; I just didn''t realize that my head was keeping me from knowing the truth.
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August 11, 2023, the day it all started, was the typical chaos that occurs on the first day of classes. While some folks moved into this shithole, everyone was chatting with their old pals.
I was entering the gate with my phone in hand, playing a card game, when I saw some of my old classmates from the other section. They were somewhat shocked. I didn''t give it much thought and went up to my Prince, who were seated by the bench near the principal''s office as I placed my phone back in my pocket.
"Hey bro, how was vacation?"
I asked Prince sitting by the bench with his phone with a new textured cut, and he still has that well-defined nose of his.
He began staring at me with a puzzled expression as he tried holding his laughter, but soon after he burst out laughing as he jumped to me.
"You grew out your hair!"
I suddenly felt a static on my spine, realizing the reason why they were giving me such cold stares.
"So that''s what they were all talking about..."
"Dude, what the hell were you thinking? Are you on drugs?"
Prince immediately lifted himself up with his toes as he pulled my hair with an unbelieving look on his face.
I slightly pushed him away as I fixed my hair.
"What was that about?!"
I shouted, confused about Prince''s actions.
"Relax, I was only checking if it was real or not."
He shrugged off while putting on a satirical look.
"What kind of dumbass does that?"
"Whatever, dude..."
He intoned sarcastically as he walked to the school cafeteria.
"Jeez..."
It was the first hour of school, and unspeakable bullshit was already happening... I should begin to see this as the normal everyday shit that would happen starting today.
I followed Prince as he walked to the empty school cafeteria. He sat at the edge of the window as he leaned at the glass container, which was securing the food inside¡ªwell, I''ll be real with you; I could just stick my hand in and take a few chocolate bars, but thank God I''m a well-moralled bastard.
"Whatcha buying?" Prince asked as he pulled out 5 PHP from his wallet.
"I''ll be grabbing some juice, I guess." I replied, also pulling out 5 PHP from my pockets.
"Nay, we''ll be buying some juice!" Prince called out to the woman cooking some macaroni on the back.
The woman dropped what she was doing as she hurriedly went to the counter to take our orders.
"One hundred yen or one fifty?"
The woman asked Prince.
"Just two one-hundreds, peach flavor," Prince replied. placing the 5 pesos on top of the class container.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"And for you?" The woman asked me.
"I''ll be taking the same as him, thanks." I replied back, placing the 5 pesos on the glass container.
As the woman was filling up two small plastic cups of peach juice, Prince pulled out his phone and flashed it in my eyes, showing me a PvP gacha game the both of us played.
"Bro, check this out. They just dropped the Legend version of Gnoly. He also has a dope ass finisher from the movie!"
I slightly looked at Prince''s phone as he showed me Gnoly''s character illustration in the game. His muscles were well defined as always with that cool green hair of his while he was shouting manically like normal.
I didn''t even know how he became one of my favorite characters in the show, probably because of his backstory? Well... I just forgot.
"Yeah, he looks cool, man." I replied, sipping my juice as I continued staring at his phone.
"Oh! Dude, wanna check out the new transferees in the other section?"
He asked ecstatically as we both walked out of the school cafeteria heading to the second floor of the school.
"Well, sure, I don''t mind meeting a few people." I do mind meeting them; I don''t even know if they hate me or not, and sometimes I''m having mixed feelings whenever I am with them. I don''t know if they''re ever being genuine or if they''re just using me for their own entertainment.
After a while we finally headed to the doorstep on the section; it was next to our classroom, and things were normal there, and as usual there were more girls than boys, but this time a few boys transferred, so I guess they added up a little.
"Hey guys, missed me?" I sarcastically said.
Brandon approached me as he stood by the front door with a bright smile on his face. That short bastard, I have a love-hate relationship with that dumbass. After I elbowed his best friend on the chest, I can''t wait to beat his ass next.
"Fuck off, Jean, you won''t pull any new girls here."
"Jeez dude, I''m not all that can''t a loner make some friends?" I replied to him I already had enough friends, and I couldn''t bother making more relationships.
Suddenly, I catch a glimpse at the edge of the door staring at the first row, seeing a boy with long hair wearing an orange shirt and dark blue jeans; he''s definitely a transfer student... and he''s handsome too; I bet he''ll pull all of the girls in that room, but I''m afraid he would have to cut that hair because of the haircut regulations.
"Hey, who''s that dude there?" I curiously asked Brandon.
In a moment I felt a huge presence grabbing the back of my collar as I got pulled into our classroom, and I turned behind to see who it was, and it was Ron.
I sometimes wonder why that guy is still in high school; he''s a huge dude! He could join Mr. Olympia, and first place won''t be enough for this jackass.
"Hey, drop me!" I shouted as I tried to let go of Ron''s grasp, kicking his knees using my heels repeatedly like a child fighting an older sibling.
"Nah, the teacher''s already taking attendance, so you can meet with your new friends later."
"Huh?! I don''t give a damn about what that cross-eyed dickhead says; let me go!" I replied as Ron forced me into my chair.
"Also, try not swearing a lot, man; the teachers have been complaining about that mouth of yours," Ron intoned as he went back to his seat on the back.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, jackass, tell your wife I said hi."
After a while, the teacher walked into the classroom with a laptop in his hand. He placed the laptop on the desk as I stared blankly at his disorienting face.
He was cross-eyed, and what makes it worse is that he looks gay! Oh well... I won''t be getting along with this one, especially since gay people give me the creeps, eugh.
"Good morning class, I''m Mr. Manzano, and I''ll be your homeroom teacher. I hope I will get along with you guys, and we''ll have a good year together."
No way... What if you molest me? Would I still continue getting along with you? Ugh, let''s just get this over with.
"So, let''s start by introducing ourselves." Mr. Manzano turned on his computer as he attached it to the television, which was placed above the blackboards.
A roulette wheel was shown with countless names of our classmates written on it; it''s the same drill every year. They can''t think of something original, can they? I just hope my name doesn''t go first.
Mr. Manzano clicked the mouse on his computer as tension spread throughout the entire room, and after a few little ticks, a name appeared on the screen.
"Jean Valentin, anyone here named that?"
I sigh in annoyance as I walk to the front with a fraudulent smile on my face.
"Well, my, what a handsome fellow! May you please introduce yourself and tell us your hobbies?"
Well, I guess I''m one step closer to being a victim, and the dude''s cross-eyed. How can he tell if I''m handsome or not?! Well, it doesn''t matter; I''m damned either way.
"Well, my name is Jean Valentin, JV for short. I''m 15 years old, and I love playing games, you can call me JV or Jean I guess... Nice to meet you guys."
"That''s great to hear, Jean; you may go back to your seat."
Yeah, yeah... I would.
I walked back to my seat, staring blankly outside the school, trying to pass the time; after a few moments, I got bored of the view outside. I pulled out my sketch pad and a number 2 pencil.
I was about to draw someone; I looked around, scanning for potential victims, as I suddenly spotted Mark, who was introducing himself in front with a bored expression in his eyes. It was perfect; I''m going to draw him.
The entire hour of the period, while the others were participating in icebreakers, I was drawing Mark''s face as detailed as I could, hoping to get a reaction from that bastard''s face.
It would probably go something with the words,
"Dude, that''s such a cool drawing!" and everyone and everything will start to boast me for my glory! Such a perfect plan, and I''m so perfect!
The period finally ended, and it was finally recess. I walked in Mark''s direction as he was talking to Nero. Everyone thinks he''s handsome, but I think he looks average as he seems, but he''s a cool person, not to mention he was with me when we switched sections.
"Hey Ben, check this out. I drew Mark." I told them randomly as I pulled out my sketch pad, showing it to the two.
Ben and Mark stared cluelessly at the sketch pad as I stood there with a confident grin on my face¡ªsoon enough, Ben would wipe that confident grin off his face because in the eyes of these two, Jean has zero artistic skill, and Jean blinded himself thinking he''s the best artist in the school, but in reality, he can''t draw something good without using a reference.
Ben slapped the sketch pad off my hands with a confused glare.
"What the hell is this bullshit, dude?" Ben replied as he laughed hysterically.
"Dude! I worked so hard for this man."
"Dude, you should practice more; even a first grader can draw better than that!" Ben replied as he began bursting more and more into laughter.
"Yeah, whatever. At least Mark likes it, right?" I turned my eyes to Mark, hoping I would extract at least a single compliment from him.
"This shit''s ass bro," Mark replied blandly.
"Huh?! What?! After all of my hard work, you guys would act like this?!"
"We''re just giving genuine criticism, dude; take it like a man," Mark replied.
"You guys are so mean... I''ll remember this day, and the next time you''ll do it to me, I''ll be the one crushing your dreams," I intoned sarcastically as I walked away sulking as I walked to the school cafeteria.
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August 14, 2023: Nothing special happened during the past few days, except for more icebreakers and more introductions. But today my aunt gave me some spare cash to buy some books and notebooks I would use during the entire school year.
My mom and dad were never home a lot, so my aunt and uncle were forced to take care of such a lowly bastard like me. I kind of feel a little bit bad for them since Aunt would always go home stressed from work, and I couldn''t do much to help, but I guess studying my ass off would be great help, no?
"Hey, JV!" called Ben. I turned to him curiously. What could this bastard possibly want from me?
"What?" I replied.
"You gonna buy some books today, or are you buying tomorrow?" asked Nero.
"Well, now that you mention it, I was about to head to the registrar."
"Can I come with you?" asked Ben.
"Yeah, sure, I don''t mind a little company," I replied as I walked to the registrar on the bellow on the first floor next to the cafeteria.
"So, anyone from the other section catching your eye?" asked Ben as we were walking down the stairs.
"Nah, nothing there interests me; none of the girls there were my type anyways, but I made some new gaming buddies."
"Is that so?" he replied as the both of us went into the registrar; I sat by the metal bouncy chairs at the end.
While I was sitting down, I gazed off outside, and I saw Lianne walking with a group of girls. I can''t believe she made some friends already; well, I couldn''t blame her. I''d also be like that with the other transferees just to fuck with them.
One girl walked by, another walked by, and suddenly a short girl with short hair and boyish features walked past the door. Her hair was slightly covering her eyes, and she wore thin glasses. Her face was so familiar yet... Wait, that''s the same guy?!
How could someone be so handsome and beautiful at the same time? Nevertheless, why is my left chest squeezing so tightly? I- I don''t understand... She''s beautiful now. I can''t describe it, but is this feeling for real?
"Hey Ben, about your question if I had a type, I think I found mine."
Part 1 - Chapter 2: Torpe
People would normally think of me as somewhat reckless, sometimes confident, and for my friends, I''m a shy airhead.
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The night is cold, and from the distance, you can hear some vendors selling "balut" from the streets, but soon those annoying voices would fade away in the distance after some time.
While the vendors were hustling outside, I, your normie high school student, was lying down on the bed while scrolling on Famebook I usually don''t use social media, but tonight''s a special case.
Earlier I went to school early and rushed to the other section to see the list of their students. I slipped my phone out and took a quick snap of the sheet of paper taped next to the closed door.
The moment I went home, I''ve been scrolling for hours,, and still no results of little missy found. I tried potential nicknames and full names but still got no results for her.
I''m so pinned down in a corner I have no other choice but to contact that stupid woman...
Should I even talk to her? I mean, she''s the only girl I''m close with...
What if she begins jumping to conclusions?!
Ugh... This is so not worth my time, but at the same time worth my time.
You know what? I''m just gonna risk it first time''s the charm.
I pull out my phone and open the Chatbox app and forcibly search for the name "Lianne Corpuz."
Okay... now what? I should probably start with idle chat, or should I go directly to the point?
I wonder what kind of response she would prefer instead; either response might be good enough, I think.
"Hey bro u free to talk?"
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"hey valie, long time no talk how you doing?"
"Same old bs you know..."
"icic what is it u wanna talk abt?"
"Well did any handsome people transfer to your room?"
"wait..."
"Val... dont tell me..."
"let me guess... YOUR FINALLY COMING OUR YOUR CLOSET!!"
"No."
"Over my dead body."
"it''s okay val no need to hide the gayness using homophobia"
"embrace it you''re always welcome to trans-fer to the dark side :)"
"Enough with the gay puns, you''re cringing me out..."
"jeez just go straight to the point already you only talk to me whenever you need smth so spill it girl"
"By handsome I meant "handsome" transfer student."
"dude."
"Okay, what''s the name of that cute small handsome girl with short hair whom you were walking with when you passed by the registrar?"
"oh you meant Caz?"
"Wait Cazandra?! Not Cassandra?"
"did you peek at the student lists and began stalking every girl in our section?"
"creep..."
"You''re one to talk, at least I''m not the one who has a AI boyfriend."
"fine were both weird so what"
"We''ve been buds since I transferred here right?"
"uh-huh where are you going with this mr. trans-feree? ;)"
"Jeez for shit sake stop the gay puns..."
"Anyways, I want you to help me with little missy over here and have a nice talk with her."
"why dont you just approach her? lil missy seems like a nice person."
"Uh, no?"
"lover boy''s giving off torpe."
"I can''t believe I''m even asking you this..."
"oh dont get me wrong JV ill help you gladly."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"For real?"
"in one condition."
"Ice Cream tomorrow dismissal cookies and cream."
"well then, that settles it bye bye lover boy ill expect the payment tomorrow no adjustments"
Why did I even bother asking...
I puffed out a sigh of relief as I gently tossed my phone to my desk, confident of not shattering the screen.
I''ll just see her tomorrow, I guess. I hope I can pull off a decent conversation with her...
Decent... huh...
I stared at the ceiling for a moment and took a soft, deep breath.
Inhale... Exhale...
And moments pass by; I repeated the same cycle: Inhale... Exhale... as my eyes began weighing heavy and everything went black...
As usual, I didn''t dream of anything, and I woke up.
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Today I did something I had never done in a long time: I walked to school early.
Before I transferred to St. Benedict, I used to go to school early in my past school. When I say early, I mean it with every fiber of my being.
I would come to school at 5 AM and would do nothing but practice my soccer skills on the basketball court since we didn''t have a soccer court in that school.
But despite that all, we still played soccer with our goals being the walls on the sides.
Now, I came to school at 5:30 AM just to meet the new transfer student. I guess we just have to wait for her, right?
"Wait, am I seeing things?" a voice echoed from the entrance as I sat on the floor.
"Jean?! Here early?!" Ben shouted, confused, as I locked eyes with his widened eyes.
"You''re the one to talk. Why are you here early too?" I replied as I stood up, walking towards him.
Ben placed his bag on his chair as he pulled out his laptop, filled to the brim with Lakebird stickers¡ªa band.
"Well, you know me; I gotta cram this shit fast. Remember the reporting?" Ben replied with sheer focus as he opened his laptop.
"What reporting? We''re literally just a week into school, and there''s reporting already?"
"You''ll get used to it." Ben smiled.
I sat next to him as I stared at his laptop blankly for a few minutes.
"So, tell me, Jean, why are you here so early?" he asked as he was editing the slides on their presentation.
"Uh, well¡ª" my nerves shook a little as a sweat broke sliding at my cheek.
"Cramming?" Ben looked at me with curiosity.
"Well, you know me so well! Haha..."
"Now that I remember, we''re groupmates, right? Why don''t you help me with this?"
"Yeah man, sure, I guess..."
Phew, dodged a bullet right there. I can''t let this dickhead know I''m here to see my crush in such an early hour; knowing them, they''ll just call her name out of nowhere, and I''ll be fucked for a lifetime.
"Hey JV, where do you get your slides from?"
"Just open the Canvas browser; there are some free templates there."
"Right..." Ben muttered as he opened the browser, searching for templates.
"What''s even our reporting about?" I asked while laying my head on my armchair.
"Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka."
"Oh... I read that book already."
"For real? You''re so nerdy."
"Yeah, you want me to help you or not?" I replied with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Yeah, calm down, Shakespeare. I''m sorry." Ben muttered slightly as he began typing.
I sighed for a moment as I took out a pad of paper from Ben''s bag, writing the summary of the entire story on the paper.
I wasn''t paying all that much attention to our class since there are perks to having a cross-eyed teacher; they won''t know if you''re sleeping even if you''re sitting in the second row.
But luckily for me, I''ve already read the story due to me being absolutely obsessed with human psychology. Isn''t it crazy how our emotions can alter a human''s personality?
Or even crazier, extreme bursts of emotion could be the cause of someone''s upbringing or downfall.
Either way, our conscience is the one making our lives interesting. We get to choose between logic or feeling, unlike animals who only have motor capabilities.
This is why I love this book; it deeply explores that topic. The cause of change in a person, a process of either refinement or yet destruction.
"Hey dude, I''m almost done; I just gotta write down our own ideas about the story."
"Oh, uhh... for me, I guess the story dwells deeply on how experiences or thoughts could change a person. Yeah, write that down."
"Yeah... experiences, yadayada... I''m done!" Ben smiled and puffed a huge sigh of relief as he saved the slides before closing his laptop.
I looked at the clock to see that only 30 minutes had passed as we were creating the entire presentation. I expected far faster results, but we weren''t actually rushing that much considering class starts at 7:30.
"You sent the slides on the group chat?" I asked Ben.
"Yeah, Cyril''s already got it." He replied back as he stood up from his seat, stretching his arms as he yawned.
"Hey, would you look at that? We still have an hour before class. Wanna grab something to eat?" Ben asked as he pulled out his wallet, checking his money.
"Your treat?" I smiled at him slightly.
"Maybe, find out for yourself," Ben replied back as he walked out of the classroom to head to the school canteen.
I followed Ben as he was going down the stairs, and as we were heading to the cafeteria, I slightly looked at the school gates.
I''ve been here for 30 minutes or so, and still no sight of her... Have I made the wrong decision?
"Nay! Can I get two empanadas!" Ben shouted as he repeatedly tapped the 20 peso coin on the glass container.
The old lady rushed to the counter and wrapped two plastic bags on both hands as she grabbed and wrapped two of the fan-shaped breads in the plastic.
"That''d be 10 pesos, pate." (pate is means kid; it''s an Ilocano word.)
Ben placed the 20 peso coin on the glass container as he tossed me the empanada; I slightly caught it as I took a small bite of the bread.
It still tasted the same; there was more dough than the cheese and ham wrapped inside. What could I expect...
"Shit still tastes the same as always," Ben muttered as he took another bite from his empanada.
"I kmow mright." I replied, chewing on my food.
"Let''s sit by the gate for a little while; I want to see if the transferees here would have somewhat of a face card."
"Seriously..."
"Oh, don''t act all goody two shoes, Jean; maybe you''d see your type walk by the gate again."
"Although I''m curious, what is your type?" Ben asked, curious, as we both walked toward the bench next to the gate.
"Hm... Now that you ask that, I actually haven''t thought of it that much."
"Seriously? Didn''t you just tell me you had a type last week? Don''t tell me you already forgot her face."
"Well, to be honest, I hadn''t gotten much of a full glimpse of her face, but I like her haircut," I replied as we both sat down on the bench.
"Haircut? You like women who have good hair care then."
"You could say that, I guess."
"So tell me what was the ''haircut'' that made you head over heels for that person."
"Well, I don''t know what the exact name of the haircut was, but it looked something like a middle part with wavy parts on the back."
"Huh..." Ben replied with a confused expression, his hands rubbing his chin as he pulled out his phone.
After a few moments, Ben showed me a picture of a woman with the same haircut as the girl I saw at the registrar that day.
"Yeah, that''s exactly the haircut I was talking about!"
"Okay, I''m concerned now, bro." Ben patted my shoulder as he locked eyes with me for a moment.
"People with that hair either have serious issues or are fucking manipulators, man, speaking from experience."
"Yeah right, man, like you get any girls¡ anyways what''s the cut called?" I rolled my eyes as I removed Ben''s hand from my shoulder.
"Well, it''s just a normal wolf cut, nothing special."
"Anyways, bro, I wish you luck on your conquest. If you''re lucky enough, you''d last for a few months." He smiled as he stood up, heading back to the classroom, tossing the plastic bag on the floor.
"Jeez, don''t be such a klutz."
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A few minutes before dismissal, I can''t wait to get out of this hellhole and finally meet her. I wonder what she''s like; I hope there''s still any hope before Lianne influenced her to do weird shit.
I slightly lift my collar to my nose and smell my shirt; it smells like baby cologne... Do women like men who smell like newborn babies? Probably.
What matters is I make a good impression, and I won''t smell like shit, unlike that one fat girl sitting on the front row; her natural scent is making the entire room feel like a damn gas chamber.
Suddenly I felt a jolt on my spine as the bell finally rang; some people immediately stood up and got their bags ready.
"Alright class, don''t forget there will be a quiz tomorrow. That''s it for today. Safe travels as you go home."
I walked outside the classroom, and as I sat at the lounge next to the canteen, it wasn''t very cozy there since it was only made up of monoblocks and nearly worn-out armchairs and a canopy covering us to protect us from the rain.
Can''t they just upgrade the lounge a little? Our tuition fee is like 5,000 pesos; at least upgrade the school, jeez...
Anyways, let me chat Lianne.
"Yo bro, I''m on the lounge."
. . .
"u got my ice cream?"
"Can it wait?"
"fine... were on our way btw cya"
Alright, they said they''re on their way... I guess I''m just going to have to wait for a little while; let me sit down for a little here.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and played a retro game just to pass some time; somehow once I got to the ninth floor, the game got a little harder.
No matter how hard I tried, I could only reach the seventh to the eighth floor before the zone would kill me...
Oh wait, maybe I could do it this time... I''ve already breezed through the eighth floor with ease.
My fingers swiped as fast as they could, dodging the traps, accurately dashing through the walls, and as soon as you know it, I was at the ninth floor...
If I pass this floor, I could finally beat the game! I just got to repeat the same
My vision suddenly dimmed as I felt two hands covering my eyes as I was finally close to beating the game.
"Guess who," a voice intoned in sync with the game over music playing on my phone.
"Lianne... I was about to beat the game..." I replied with a dead tone.
After a few moments she removed her hand from my face as I turned to Lianne with lifeless eyes after she ruined such a perfect run.
I swear to everything holy, unholy, impure, and pure, if I only had a gun in my waist right now, I''d pop her head off...
"Uh... Hi?" the girl with glasses intoned with a shy tone.
I turned my eyes directly in front of me to see an incredibly short girl wearing thin glasses; she had a nervous smile while she was discreetly rubbing her fingers individually.
She was staring at me with those innocent eyes, and it didn''t take long for me to notice she was the same girl Lianne was talking about.
"Uhm... I''m Cazandra, with a ''Z.'' You can call me Cazie or Caz for short." She smiled slightly.
Dude, she''s super cute... I don''t know what to say; it''s like my mouth isn''t working or something.
Hey Caz, I''m Jean; you can call me JV for short...
The entire lounge fell silent as the two of us locked eyes for a few moments...
Lianne was standing beside her as she inhaled deeply with her palm on her face, staring at me with a disappointed look on her face.
"Uh, Caz, this handsome fellow sitting in front of you right now is Jean; you can also call him Val and JV, but I would prefer calling him a dumbass," Lianne replied with an annoyed tone.
Wait, shit, I didn''t even talk?! I thought I introduced myself, but my mouth didn''t even move an inch, not to mention I have a feeling in my left chest like it''s slowly tightening...
"Hey, uh... shit, what was I about to say?"
Lianne stared at me with all hope lost in her eyes.
I''ve deeply succumbed to pressure; my brain isn''t even functioning normally anymore. I was just frozen in place while I was staring at her.
I reached out my hand in gesture for a handshake; Caz stared at my hand in confusion for a moment before then taking it, shaking my hand.
I chuckled for a moment as I forced myself to smile despite the pressure I was feeling.
This is so embarrassing...