Pedestal

A Chance of Happiness Chapter 2: Pedestal

Whenever someone mentions an actor or entertainer of any kind the first thing that usually comes to mind is their favorite work. People criticize and/or praise their performances depending on how well they are received. They also tend to focus more on the character they’re trying to imitate because, of course, it’s their job to do so. Once their performance ends, that’s that, however, sometimes the audience thinks that this is actually not the case.

Sometimes people assume too much from the actors, expecting them to act the same way if they happen to meet in person. When in reality, they’re an entirely different person. It’s something that can make someone feel cheated, betrayed, disgusted even. People tend to throw the phrase, “never meet your heroes”, around. Those who do can often be disappointed, especially when they have expectations of an actor. They forget that these are only expectations of the character they once played, not the person underneath.

“Mina! You’re going to be late for your first day! Get a move on!” a voice called from downstairs.

“Give me a minute, Mom!” Mina peeks her head out from the doorway of her bathroom, comb in hand.

“You have five! You said you didn’t need me to wake you up! What happened to your alarm?!” her mother Sumiko yelled again.

“I don’t know!” Mina put down her comb and started brushing her teeth, walking over to her bed to check her phone.

“Alarms… there!” Upon opening the app she soon saw the issue. “It’s set for P.M.?!”

“Mina!”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened! Maybe the apps broken!” she lied, quickly changing her alarm and running back to her bathroom.

“One minute!”

“That was barely two! I thought you said five!” Mina replied as she ran down the steps towards her mother. “Ok, I’m ready now.”

“Where’s your bag?”

“In my room, why?.”

Her mother crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at Mina.

“What? I– OH!” Upon realizing, Mina ran back up the stairs to grab her bag, running back down the next moment with it.

“Better.”

“Can we go now?”

“Depends, anything else you’re forgetting?”

“No, I–” Mina stopped herself, taking a moment to think before she finished responding.

Her mother gave her a blank stare.

“I’m good!” Mina finally finished. “I got everything.”

Her mother opened the door for her, letting out a sigh.

Looking out the window of the car she saw her soon to be new junior high.

“Bye, Mom!” Mina waved as she exited the car.

“Remember, after today I won’t be able to drive you to school. Me and your father will be busy closing out a contract deal. Make sure your alarm and school route are in order. I won’t be there to wake you up next time you sleep through your alarm.”

“I didn’t sleep through it! Technically speaking.” she whispered.

“Either way make sure it’s taken care of. Any absences you get here will show up on your academic record.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mina closed the door to the car and watched it drive off. Taking a deep breath, she took her first steps towards her new school. Passing through the crowds of students she already felt eyes on her.

“Hey!” Mina heard a voice shout from behind her.

She turned to see a group of a couple boys and a girl approaching her.

“You’re just starting today right?” The boy in front asked.

“Y–Yes. Nice to meet you.” Mina bowed quickly. “My name’s–”

“I know who you are!” The girl interjected. “Mina Yuriko, right? Your family runs Yuriko Media don’t they?”

“I… uh… they do…”

“That’s awesome! I heard their daughter was crazy talented. We just wanted to come over and see if you wanted to be friends.” the other boy started.

“Oh… I… sur–”

“Oh, I almost forgot. You probably need help finding your class right? Here, let us show you the way.” The first boy interrupted.

“I– thank you very much.” Mina finally got a response out.

Mina followed the three to her class, silently following as they continued to talk about her and her family's company.

“Here you are.” the girl pointed to the room on their left.

“Thank you all.” Mina bowed.

“Don’t worry about it! Just let us know if you need anything.” the first boy responded.

“Oh right, and just be aware of this guy to steer clear of. He’s a roughhouser and can get really pushy around girls like you. His name’s Jin Rento.” The other boy added.

“Jin–”

Before Mina could continue, the bell rang and the group began to leave.

“We’re off in this direction! Nice meeting you!” The three set off, waving goodbye.

“Good… bye…” Mina raised her hand to wave, but lowered it back down instead. “I didn’t even get their names…”

Mina walked into the classroom and found an empty desk in the corner of the room and sat down. She buried her hands in her arms as she laid on the desk.

“Nothing ever seems to change.”

The bell rang and all the students in the classroom began to make their way to their seats.

“Everyone, please take your seats.” The teacher who just walked into the room began writing on the board. “We have a new student today.” Stepping away from the board, she revealed Mina’s name.

Whispers flooded the classroom, like groundbreaking news had just been announced.

“Yuriko-chan, would you please introduce yourself?”

Mina slowly raised her head from her arms and stood up. “Nice… to meet you all.”

As the school day progressed, Mina was introduced to her class. With her looks and her family's company being known by most of the students and faculty, her popularity surged. She succeeded in almost every aspect of school, only adding to her popularity as well as… the imaginary distance between her and her classmates.

People came to her for help, even for the smallest things because she was, “the one to ask” if someone needed help. Eventually, she built up this sense of responsibility to be the “best” version of herself for others sake. She’d act and play out her part, soon, it began to feel like it was a baseline expectation for her to have and maintain this “perfect” image.

She felt like she had been placed on an “imaginary pedestal” from which she couldn’t manage to get down from. Looking down on the rest of her classmates when all she wanted was to be normal. But the fear of letting others down kept her from finding the help to get down from the pedestal she was placed on. Throughout her last year of junior high at her new school… Mina Yuriko slowly forgot how to be herself.

So she continued to wear this mask of the “perfect” version of herself. Until one day, someone saw straight through it.

“... The way you talked, acted, put on a smile for others, trying to appear as though everything was fine. There was a hollowness to it. Surely nobody else noticed it. But you just seemed… so… fake…”

The words of the boy standing before her resonated throughout her so thoroughly it left her speechless. And for the first time, it felt like she wasn’t on that pedestal anymore.