An Average Guy's Love Record | #6 Senior Year of High School

Before I knew it, I was a senior in high school.

Before the summer, just before retiring from my club, I had fallen for 'S-ko,' a girl one year younger than me in the same club.
The reason I liked her was simply because she was beautiful (lol).

She had a refined look and was a refreshing beauty that everyone acknowledged, but because she was quiet and shy, she was the type of girl who wouldn't react much when boys talked to her, making it hard to get close to her.

I took advantage of the fact that we were in the same club to talk to her occasionally, but
I was only able to get as close to her as
"one of the many upperclassmen."

"I have to make a move if I want to get one step closer!"
Thinking this, I came up with a plan to pretend it was a coincidence and ambush her on the way home from club activities.

I didn't know where she lived, but I knew the direction she went home, so I guessed the route and waited, and to my surprise, S-ko appeared! (It was obvious, though, lol).

"I was just on my way back from the bookstore... what a coincidence!"
I think I said something like that as a random excuse.
I was glad I met her, but I was so nervous that the conversation started to get awkward, so I got to the point before I messed up.
"Would you like to exchange phone numbers?"
S-ko was surprised but agreed,
and I was able to get her contact information.

I could sense that she didn't have feelings for me and was just surprised into giving it to me, but regardless, I achieved my goal.

I called her a few days later, but
as preparation,

"I wrote down as many conversation topics as I could think of"

"and did a mental rehearsal."

The results of putting this into practice were brilliant, and
the quiet S-ko laughed a lot.

※This is a simple preparation that anyone can think of, but surprisingly few people do it. It's easy to do and highly effective, so please try it.

From then on, things progressed rapidly.
After calling a few times, I confessed my feelings and she said yes.

I confessed on a bus stop bench near my house.
When she nodded to my confession, I was incredibly happy. Even after I got home, I savored the happiness once more.

But... less than a month later, without even going on a date, I was dumped.
"I was overwhelmed by the persistent upperclassman and said yes, but when I calmed down, I realized I didn't like him and he wasn't my type..."
That must have been it.

I was so shocked that I tried to beg her to reconsider once over the phone and once in person,
but when I saw the truly troubled look on her face, I realized how pathetic I was being and gave up.

In this way, I became a pathetic guy who fell from the height of happiness in an instant, but there is one thing I want to praise my past self for.
That is, when I was dumped, I didn't hold any bad feelings toward her, and

"I was dumped because there was something lacking in me.
If I want someone to like me, I have to improve myself!"

I thought this naturally.
I still hold this mindset today.
Though, the stupid and cute part of me is that I just think about it without actually making any effort (lol).

But I think this level of stupidity is good for not becoming self-deprecating and thinking, "I'm just not good enough..." when you get dumped.

Anyway, that's how my high school romance ended.
After being dumped by S-ko, nothing good or bad happened,
and I spent my days calmly until I graduated from high school.