“ Do I look good today?” “ Am I cool?” He is desperate for an answer, and he would not stop unless someone gives him the answer he wants. “YESS!!” says Liam, his best friend, “ you look fine.”

Boris asks his friends the same questions every morning before they enter school. Like most teenagers, he cares about his appearance a lot. He would spend hours in the bathroom fixing his hair and pick his outfit for the day. In school, Boris is a very good student and has a 4.0 GPA every year. However to most people, Boris is just like a regular student in the school. He is a average looking male who dresses up everyday. On the other hand, his best friend Liam is a very popular figure in the school. Besides being the school’s basketball team captain and future valedictorian, Liam also has his own fashion and was described as one of the hottest guy in the school. In Boris’ eyes, Liam is a very good friend. He is a very all rounded person, both smart and talented. However, always being with Liam often makes Boris seems like he is inferior to Liam, that he can never catch up and be at the same level as his best friend. 

“ What makes Liam so popular in school? How can I be like him? Is it even possible?”  

To Boris, he had a very rough start to in his high school life. He started off freshman year very poorly, and it took him a long time to adapt to this new environment. During his freshman year, he was very insecure with his academic performance and disliked people who often discuss about grades. He knew he can do better and knew he has a lot of potential. He wanted to show people what he can do, yet all of his attempts of redeeming himself resulted in failure. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, he was slowly giving up inside him as time passed by, until one day he met his current best friend in the library. Ever since then they become buddies, Liam acts like a mentor to Boris and also helps him with his academic results. With the help from the top of the class, things started to get better for Boris. His results in school were getting better and better, and he had finally recovered some of his confidence. Boris then entered sophomore year with a slow start, he started off the first semester poorly but manages to recover his errors by the end of his sophomore year. He was amazed when he saw his report card; his GPA went up by almost 10 points compare to the start of freshman year. He felt relieved. He finally fulfilled other people’s expectations, and he believes that he finally can look stronger in front of people who doubted him.

“Finally! Finally I have proved other people wrong! Finally people will not think I’m stupid!” 

...

Like any day of school, Boris meets up with Liam everyday after school. Since finals week is approaching, Liam wanted to study for his AP Calculus finals after school. 

( Choices: Go with Liam and study for tomorrow’s calculus exam or not go with Liam and have fun. ) 

Go with Liam:

“Sure, I still don’t really understand all of the derivative rules. Can you explain them to me?”

“Of course, let’s go to the library. ” 

“I am trying to get the highest score in my class, so people won’t think I am dumb”

“Does that really matter that much to you?” 

“Of course, I know I am not stupid. Because of that, I should be getting a better score than most of the people in my class. People in my class probably think I am a fool because of my test grade for the previous test.” 

“If you say so, but I am sure people in your class do not think you are dumb.” 

They both turned around and walked towards the school library. 

“ He is doing this again, trying to beat the entire world.”

Liam knows that Boris is a smart person, but his concerns for Boris has growing since the start of the year. When he first met Boris, he was a person that is lack in confidence and humiliates himself for making mistakes. Though Boris seemed to be like a completely different person from two years ago and looked like a confident man for most of the time, Liam knew that his self-abasement character still exist. Liam knows that Boris needs attention, and Boris wants people to care about him. Boris pretended to be confident to act like a strong man in front of people, but in reality he is still a person with a fragile mind and scared of becoming a failure. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to force himself to do better, and he always thinks he has to live up to people’s expectations to prove himself. Liam understands Boris, he knows that Boris’ past really affected his character development, but he is also not sure on how to help Boris. He just hopes that nothing serious would happen to him one day. 

Two weeks later, the scores for the finals are released. Unsurprisingly, Liam got a 100 for the Calculus final. He went to the same spot where he usually meet up with Boris everyday after school. He waited for 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, and then 30 minutes, but Boris still wasn’t there. He knew that something had happened, and he had an idea in mind. He knew where Boris usually goes when he is upset, but he does not know if should go and see him. 

(Choice: Go and see Boris / Don’t go and see Boris.)

Go and see Boris: 

Liam knows that every time when Boris is upset, he would go to the rooftop of a building near school. He rushed there and climbed up the stairs. Boris is there, looking at the view from the rooftop. 

“You good? ”

“Do I look like I’m good?”

“It’s Ok, I know how it feels” 

“How would you know? You are like the super star in the school. Everyone look up to you and want to be like you, while I am like a nobody in the school.”

“You feel like a nobody because you think you are a nobody.”

(Let Liam talk and explain / Tell Liam to stop saying anything.)

Let Liam talk and explain: 

“What do you mean by I think I am a nobody.” 

“You always say people think you are stupid, and you need to prove it to them that you are smarter than them. Yet, that is just what you think, you just keep thinking that you are not as good as other people. You just won’t stop trying until someone say you are good enough.” 

“ Well you know that my life is based on other people’s standards and expectations. I never have any aims or goal set for myself, and my goals are the expectations that people think I can do.” 

“ Well people’s expectations should not be the motivation for you to do well. You should do what you think you are capable with and with your own method.  You don’t need to fulfill other people’s standards to show you are a better person.” 

“ Then how would people know if I am better or not.”

“ You don’t need to show people that you are a better person. If you are a better person, people will find out eventually. You are living your life, not other people’s life. You do not need others’ validation to succeed, but you do need to trust yourself and love yourself to become a better person. I know you are smart, but self-love is also important for every human being. Learn how to love yourself first and to not think that you are dumb.” 

Boris went silent. Liam knows that Boris is reflecting on his life and left him alone. After ten minutes, Boris came down and said, “ Let’s go eat fast food, it unhealthy but I don’t care.”

 Tell Liam to stop saying anything:

“Just let me be Liam.”

“Ok…”

Liam left Boris and went downstairs. He knew he cannot help his best friend. Yet, seeing Boris really reminded him of another person. A person that once was his best friend, but ended up ending his life at a young age...

Don’t go and see Boris:

Liam got home late that night because there was traffic on the road. He saw a bunch of police cars and ambulance in front of his bus but he did not know what happened. While he was waiting for the bus to go through, he texted Boris, but Boris did not respond. He decides to look at the news report and see what is going on. 

*Breaking New* 

A 17 year old male had committed suicide at around 6 in the afternoon… The cause of his actions are unclear, but it is likely due to the amount of pressure in school. The police have already established an investigational group for this incident...

“That’s tragic, the society has killed another teenager…”

Not go with Liam:

“Nah, the test tomorrow should be easy. Don’t need to study for that.” 

“You sure? It the calculus final, and we all know the mathematics department loves to give tests that are tricky and short.”

“Yeah I know, but because it is a short test it is easier to get a 100.” 

“Well that is what you said last time, but guess what happened after you said that.” 

“Well we don’t talk about that, that was just unlucky. ”

“Do you care about your score for tomorrow’s finals? ” 

“I do, but also I have been doing a lot of school assignments for that past 2 weeks because of the end of the marking period. I need some sleep at least. As long as I tried my best then it’s fine.” 

“Ok, at least you know your limits. See you tomorrow and good luck. ” 

“See you. I’ll probably just look at my notes at night. ”