First day of tenth grade classesEverything seems normal. You arrive at your locker as usual, put your things away, and as you close it—Boo!—it's Kumpi, your best friend since you were seven. After the initial shock, he teases you and grabs your head. You're really angry and push him away. He says, "Oh my God, Jackson, it's the first day of school. I wanted to give you a smile" (which he didn't 😒). "Please, Kumpi, how could you do this in front of the school bullies?" you say quietly. You glance over and notice something strange. It seems you've realized something new: there's someone new with the bullies, someone you've never seen before. When you look him in the eyes, he makes eye contact for a split second, and you quickly look away. He does the same and starts walking with his group to another place.
You return to your thoughts and head to class with your best friend. Oh no! Geometry—you're terrible at that subject. You arrive early, and the teacher is already there, as usual. Before you can go to your seat, she calls you over. "Jackson, you can't sit with Kumpi this semester. Your grades are steadily declining. I've assigned you a seat with Mark. Do you know him?" "No, I've never heard of him. Is he new?" "Oh my God, you really don't know him? That's good enough for me. I won't have to yell at you to be quiet. Now go to your seat, and we'll start as soon as the rest of the class arrives."Ring ring (the cicada dreams and class begins).Just then, the teacher is about to close the door when suddenly, a hand appears in the doorway and that person's head pops in. Crazy! It's the boy you exchanged glances with. You try not to lose control and stay calm. That boy is gorgeous, but he's a bully. The only thing going through your head is that he's not the classmate you were assigned to sit with. You notice the teacher whisper something to him, and he immediately turns to look at you, and you make eye contact again. You try to look away, but out of the corner of your eye, you notice him approaching you. He throws his things onto the seat next to you, and you're startled. He sits down and stares into your eyes. You start to see his mouth move. I think he's going to speak. What's he going to say? Is he going to insult you?