FRACTURE

Peter’s heart fills with joy as he remembers his college life. From the moment he entered the college until the day he left, he followed its rules with the same devotion he showed toward his parents. Every step he took, every movement of his eyes, every gesture, and every posture was carefully controlled according to the expectations placed before him.

To others, obeying every single rule of the college might have seemed foolish or unnecessary. But that was Peter—a brilliant and disciplined student who believed that success came from following every instruction and never making a mistake.

Peter certainly had many friends. Although his busy schedule and endless syllabus rarely gave him enough time to spend with them, he enjoyed every moment they shared in the classroom—studying and doing homework together.

But even then, Peter was different. While his friends saw those moments as a chance to spend time together, Peter saw them as another opportunity to learn more and stay ahead of everyone else.

Peter’s goal was to know exactly how much his friends understood from each chapter. He wanted to know which problems they had solved and which ones they had not, so that he could study harder, solve more questions, and make sure no one could ever surpass him.

For the first time in his life, one of Peter’s friends scored one mark higher than him, placing Peter in second place.

He could not accept it easily. When he saw the result sheet, the number beside his name felt like an insult. Second place—the position he had never imagined himself in—was now written in front of him. The disappointment slowly turned into anger, not only toward himself but also toward his friend.

At home, his mother scolded him for failing to remain first, and those words made his anger grow even stronger. In Peter’s mind, his friend was no longer just a friend, he had become the person who took away the position that only belonged to Peter.

For the next few months, Peter’s dedication to his study table became almost impossible to break. He bought new books, practiced more problems, and spent every extra hour trying to improve in the subject where he had lost that one mark.

How could someone else be ahead of him? How could a boy from an ordinary middle-class family, someone Peter had never considered a threat, score higher than him?

That single mark felt heavier than all the marks he had earned before.

But as I already mentioned, beating Peter in an exam was almost impossible. Unless someone was a true genius, they could hardly stand close to him. Even then, they would have to spend every waking hour studying just to reach where Peter already stood.

From the next exam onward, Peter returned to his place at the top. Exam after exam, he remained in first position, leaving no one close enough to challenge him. 

He felt proud to be back on his path again and made a promise to himself that he would never waste time going out with his family again, not after they had cost him that one mark.

Perfect Peter — 4