If The World was An Orange

[Look around you and you'll see, how beautiful the world is...]

I tried my best to finish my assignment but I simply can't. How can I even portray the beauty of this world if I can't find any?

"Having trouble writing, Ace?" my roommate asked as he entered our room. He just came back from buying fruits from the supermarket.

I solemnly nodded at him.

"Ms. Oberon just had to make us do a poem about the Earth's grandness, eh?" He mockingly said as he chuckled. I gave him a small smile before going back to my poem.

Earth, beautiful - I never even associated these two words before.

Nature? Not a big fan of it. Humans? Even more.

Ms. Oberon was always like this - actions, unpredictable; expressions, unreadable. She knew that we, as the worst section, are always humiliated for being dumbasses. She is one of those who ridicule us, actually.

And yet, she still makes us write about how humans change from bad to better, how a certain ordinary person becomes a very successful businessman, etc. There was also that one time when we wrote a summary of Taylor Swift's musical achievements as a project.

Yes, she's unpredictable like that.

I'd personally like to believe that she's making us do these things to make us better people but everyone knows that's never the case.

I was about to ask my roommate for ideas when I saw that he was asleep in his study table's chair.

His head was angled badly, making me feel like he'll have a stiff neck the next morning if I won't make him go back to his bed.

I silently sighed before I woke him up. Without making me say anything, he walked towards his bed and slept again.

Looking at him, I felt a little light-headed and sleepy. Stifling a yawn, I opened my phone to check the time.

Dang, it was already past midnight. To think that I wasted hours in writing just one line.

I guess I should go get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to continue my assignment.

~~

"ACE, WAKE UP! IT'S 6 AM FOR PETE'S SAKE!" Someone shouted from beside me before harshly throwing a pillow in my waist.

That freaking hurts, dude!

Just before I did something I might regret, my mind decided to function normally. Luckily, I didn't curse like I usually do when my roommate pranks me in the morning.

Because it was the dorm manager who shouted at me.

I just glared at him irritably.

"You got complaints, boy?!" the dorm manager shouted yet again when he saw my hateful stare. Despite my annoyance, I forced myself to shake my head. I'll never be in the right position to question his authority anyway.

When he saw me doing that against my will, he scoffed. "Know your place, boy. Be on the star section before you ever decide to glare at me again! I'll let this one pass since you're Jace's younger brother. BE MORE LIKE YOUR BROTHER GO*D*MMIT!" he shouted as he went out of our room.

Noticing my sour mood, my roommate knew better not to rile me up more. He just shot me a glance before going out.

Ever since I started high school, my life became like this.

They all tell me to do things based on their expectations.

Do better in school.

Fool around less.

Be like your brother.

"Stop being a humiliation to this family!"

I vividly remember Dad's words when he received the letter stating that I was in 2-9, the worst section in our school among the second-years.

"I let it go when you were just in the second section last year but to think that you ended up in the last section this time! LAST SECTION?! Why can't you be like your brother? Why do you continue to ruin your future?!"

I can still remember how red from anger his face was. Mom was hugging him tightly just to stop him from making a move towards me. My brother...

He was just there, looking at me as if I deserved every harsh word that was coming out of Dad's mouth.

I guess I did deserve it.

I tried my best to clear my mind from those memories but I can't. I simply just can't. It hurts me badly to remember everything clearly but in the end, I wasn't able to forget even a single moment.

After checking my phone for the time, I calmly arranged my things as well as myself even though I was already late for my first class.

As I put everything inside my bag, I noticed a certain paper with only one sentence on it - my poem assignment.

[Look around you and you'll see, how beautiful the world is...]

I stared at it quietly, deep in thought. How was I even able to write this line?

Not really knowing why, I did just like what I wrote - I looked around me.

All I saw was damp socks which were making the room very smelly, some posters of my roommate's favorite band, BTS and our messy study tables. For some reason, I can feel myself smiling lightly.

I can't fathom why but this room made me feel at ease. Despite the dull interior, the laughter and silliness it witnessed were enough to make it seem lively.

The movies we watched inside this room, the junk foods we sneaked in and the days when we made our friends stay here without the dorm manager's permission...

As I remember those fond memories, I thought, "The world may not be as bad as it seems."

There may be some tyrant teachers who always make us feel bad about ourselves but my friends and I got each other.

My Dad may not like me that much but my Mom continues to care for me day by day.

My brother may have never cared for me but I found a brother in my roommate.

The world may not have been as bad as I thought it was.

As my gaze fell in my roommate's study table, I noticed the oranges he bought last night. There were big ones, small ones and one rotten orange he forgot to throw away.

I guess we, humans, are just like oranges.

Some of us may be a rotten orange but there also some which may be big but are very sour. There are also those which may not look like much, maybe even insignificant, which are seedless and sweet.

I guess it's just a matter of finding the right ones. The right orange, the right size, the right smell.

The right perspective.

With this newly-found inspiration, I continued writing my poem. As I walked towards our classroom, I helplessly laughed at my idea of a title.

Fine, let it be this! It's not like I can think of a better one.

On the very top of my paper, a very silly title was resting above my name.

"If The World was An Orange"

by: Ace Smith