It was after the bowling trip when the quiet girl, Tonya, came up to me after school.

She claimed that she needed help studying, so I led her to the library where Derrick usually isolated himself.

There, we talked while getting Tonya's homework done. Tonya seemed quite interested in our conversation, but she didn't get too involved.

"Say, can someone who is pretending to be someone else be a genuine person?" I ask.

Derrick thought about it for a while before replying.

"Probably."

As our conversation seemed to go much deeper, I noticed Tonya seemed quite uncomfortable. So, I decide to drag her into our meaningless conversation.

"Who do you think is the fakest person in the school Tonya?"

"...You," she replied.

Well, she nailed that one down. I laughed. Tonya was clearly bothered and excused herself.

"...What are you trying to pull?" Derrick asked.

"I'm trying to avoid the willow tree from falling over me and hurting herself," I said in return.

It should be fine. People tend to be very narrow about love. As soon as they see something they don't like, something fake, they turn the other way.

What came next was completely expected.