@Sequoia 30 June 2021 more from that month

Cheating: Untold stories

This article serves as my entry for Ms. @JonicaBradley writing prompt about cheating. And I am so happy because it is my third time to join this fun activity. Actually, I've already read a lot of amazing entries and I was also motivated to create mine. Just to be true, I really don't know on how to pull it off. I mean, yes I do have a title, but I honestly don't have any idea on what to put on the body. Anyways, I will just try my best to deliver a quality content for you guys 😁. Xoxo. ________________________ Cheating is always a choice. But before you cheat, please ask yourself, "Am I ready for the consequences?" Most of us, if not all, surely hates someone who cheats. On the other side, we cannot also deny the reality that all of us, have already cheated. Some cheated on their study. Some cheated on their friends. Some cheated on their parents. Some cheated on games. And the most common is, some cheated on their partners. Cheating is not new to us. In fact, it was the reason why humanity drowned in sin. Eve cheated on God. She disobeyed what God have said not to do and betrayed Him. She even dragged Adam with her immoral action. But Eve did not just cheated on God without any reason. She cheated because she was tempted. See? A person will never cheat without any reason, no matter how lame it is. There's always a reason behind every action, without thinking that every actions has a corresponding consequences. Most of the time, people cheat because of so many common reasons such as; Temptation Selfish desires Sexual desires To be on top Anger Jealousy and etcetera. Mostly, people cheat for their own satisfaction and benefits. But as the time goes by, I have realized that some people cheat not because they want to, but because they have to. ________________________

****People cheat in order to survive**** It was a very hot day and I am in the middle of traffic. Just great. *Ting* I felt relieved when the traffic light turns green. I step on the accelerator and made my way to my workplace. I got our of the car and saw a bundle of kids having a commotion in the empty lot of our building. I still have 30 minutes so I decided to take peak to know on what was the commotion was all about. Oh, they were gambling. But the game was like; one kid vs the rest of them. However, their number have no match with his luck or shall I say cheat. He was cheating. How did I know? Well, I am a cheater myself, but just in games. Why I cheat? Maybe, because I always want to win and be on top. Later that day, when I was about to go home and lay down on my bed. I saw the same young man, being harrassed or bullied by some big boys. "Cheater! You think we will never know that you are cheating? Give us the money!" A chubby boy grab his collar and was about to punch the young cheater when I showed myself and stop them. He just stared at me and walk away. "Oh! Your welcome!" He didn't even bother to turn his head and just continued walking. I just shrugged my shoulder and get in the car then started the engine. Sadly, I got stucked on the traffic again. And while waiting for the traffic light to go green, I saw the young cheater enter an abandoned building. I don't know what got into my mind but I parked my car near the building and followed the kid. I went inside and saw him, but this time, he was not alone. Two kids welcomed him with so much joy and went straight to the woman behind them. "Hi mom! How are you? Did you take your medicine? A bought it a while ago and gave it to the twins for you to take it." The woman or I assumed that it was her mother just smiled at him and nodded. "Yes son. I just wonder, where did you take the money to buy my medicine and foods? Are you selling drugs?" The young man just chuckled upon hearing her mother's accusation and shoke his head. "No mom. Just don't mind it." "Thank you son. You are still too young but you already earned money for us." "No problem mom. I'll do everything for you guys. For us to survive." ________________________

****People cheat to protect**** *"Can you promise me not to tell anybody, especially my parents if I tell you the location of my hide out?"* *I just pat her head and smiled.* **Time flies so fast and today is the day that she will come out from rehabilitation center. One year have passed and I am glad that I did it.** *"Rain, I trusted you but you just cheated on me! You promise me! Why did you tell it to my parents!"* *She was so furious and I can't blame her with that. I broke her trust. But it is the only way for me to save her from destruction. She's Ann and she's my bestfriend. She was influenced by her new friends and eventually engaged herself in drugs. Her parents asked me with regards to her sudden change of attitude. She changed a lot from being sweet and bubbly girl to irritated and short tempered girl. Even I got confused of her actions. Fortunately, she told me about her secrets and their hide out. I feel bad for breaking her trust but I will feel even more bad, if I would just tolerate her wrong doings.* **"Rain!"** **I came back to my senses when I heard her sweet voice. She's back. Sweet and bubbly as she was. She walked towards me with a wide and genuine smile. I stole the bags she's carrying and we walked towards the car.** **"Hey! Thank you. Thank you for saving me from my own craziness. And sorry for all the words I've said to you before."** **I just smiled and pat her head.** ________________________

****People cheat to be accepted**** "Okay time's up! Stop writing and pass your papers forward." Everyone around me panicked the moment they heard our teacher utters those words. I just gave them a blank stare and stand up to pass my paper in front. Unfortunately, a small piece of paper has fallen from my skirt that made my body froze. I looked at my teacher and I saw how her brows meet. She slowly walk towards me and pick up the paper and unscroll it. She looked at me with a very disappointed face. "To my office! Now!" I have no choice but to follow her. Yes, you got it right. She caught me cheating. "Ms. Deveyra, what on earth did you do? Why did you cheat?" I just look at her with a poker face. *"Why can't you make it on top? Is it that hard to surpass Dela Fuente?!"* *"Mom, I am sorry. I've tried my bes-"* *"But your best is not good enough!?"* *Her words is like sharp two-edged sword and it is piercing through my heart.* *"Mom, please forgive me. I will do better next time."* *"You should! You must! You have to! Or else, I am gonna disowned you. Such a disgrace to have a stupid child like you!"* *Those words are the one that push me to cheat. Because I know that no matter how much I tried, I will never surpass our top one fairly. I will do anything just for my mom to accept and loved me. I just want to feel accepted.* "Ms. Deveyra! Are you listening to me?" I came back to my senses when my teacher snap her finger infront of me. "I am sorry ma'am." "Ms. Deveyra, is there something wrong? I know that you are not like this. You are a smart kid. Did something happened that push you to this?" I shoke my head. "No ma'am. I cheated because I want to." _______________________ Cheating comes in many faces and various reasons. However, we should not forget that there is always two sides of the coin. We should teach ourselves to always listen and try to understand the reason of such actions before we judge it. Although, it is not applicable for all. Cheating will never be justifiable. There's nothing you could say that would justify this type of action. I've seen a lot of relationships , reputation and dignity that have been destroyed by this unpleasant action. And just to clarify things out, before you guys bash me, I am not pro-cheating. Lol. What I did was, I only disclosed some of the not so common reason on why some people cheat. To show you that not all cheater, cheats because of selfish desire. Some cheats, for the sake of other people. And that is what I meant, when I say to look and listen on the other side of the story. **If you will noticed, I haven't put any explaination in those stories, because I believe that the story itself is already enough for me to convey what I want you guys to understand.** Heyaaa! Thank you so much for reading till the end. God bless! P.S Images above are from unsplash.com