The project work began the next day, and I found myself stuck between Yuna and Harper, trying to make sense of whatever we were supposed to be doing for Mr. Blume's ridiculous assignment. I was starting to realize, though, that the work didn't matter nearly as much as the people I was surrounded by.
They were all larger than life.
---
First, there was Yuna Kim — a presence in her own right.
Yuna had this perfect calm, the kind you see in those old movies where the villain is always just a bit too still. Her black bob cut framed her sharp face, and her uniform jacket always stayed immaculate, like she was constantly moving in slow motion. There was something unspoken about her, like she could break anyone around her if she wanted to, but instead, she just watched.
"Let's just get this over with," she said, tossing her textbook to the side, and there was this coldness in her voice that made me feel like I should be the one to shut up. But I didn't.
Next to her, Harper Bennett was the total opposite.
Harper was a blur of motion, shifting between their phone, their camera, and whatever else they decided was worth their time. With shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes, they had this easy-going, mess-around personality. The kind of person who'd laugh at their own joke before anyone else could. At least with Harper, I never had to pretend. They made everything feel... okay. Like everything was a game. But a game where the rules kept changing. Maybe I wasn't the only one who wasn't sure about where this world was headed.
---
And then I had this sudden realization:
There were all these new faces in the room. All these other kids, each with their own vibe. Their own history.
I couldn't help but notice, though — as much as I used to be the quiet kid back in Saskatchewan, I was nowhere near being the most interesting one here. Not anymore.
---
I glanced at Amelia, sitting across the room, her brown eyes focused on her phone. She was as neat and meticulous as a school librarian. Everything about her was controlled. From her perfectly tied braids to the way she stacked her textbooks in the exact same order every time. Amelia's quiet, but when she speaks, everyone listens. It's like she's testing the waters, deciding who's worth her time. So far, I was definitely not in the "worthy" column.
Oliver, on the other hand, always seemed like he was in another world entirely.
With his messy blond hair and easy grin, he looked like the kind of kid who could talk his way out of anything. He barely ever paid attention to class, but whenever Mr. Blume called on him, Oliver somehow knew exactly what to say.
I wasn't sure if I hated him for being so good at everything, or if I admired it.
---
At a corner desk, I spotted Ivy with her dark leather jacket, her phone out and headphones in. She was the type of girl who could walk into any room and make everyone stop talking. The way she carried herself said she didn't care — about school, about rules, about anything. Ivy was a challenge in her own way. The kind who liked to break things, just to see how far she could push them before they broke back.
---
Then, there was Jack.
He barely spoke. Always had that permanent scowl. His buzzcut seemed like a statement all on its own. But Jack didn't need to say anything for people to notice him. He was one of those people who just was. Like a storm waiting to happen.
---
Over in the far corner of the room, Mia was deep into her sketches, her messy ponytail flicking with every fast stroke of her pencil. She looked like she could lose herself in a drawing and forget the world existed. The way her fingers flew across the page, I could tell she was different from everyone else. She didn't care about fitting in. She just existed — and somehow, that was more real than any of us.
---
Theo, on the other hand, was the total joker.
He leaned back in his chair, sending jokes flying like arrows. His messy hair and loud laugh kept the entire class on edge. He had a way of making everyone else feel like they were part of the joke, whether they wanted to be or not. But there was a charm in it. A weird kind of honesty to his chaos.
---
At the front of the room, Rose was flipping through her phone, looking at herself in the screen every few seconds. She was the textbook definition of a social butterfly. She wore her heart on her sleeve — or maybe it was more accurate to say she wore her entire personality on Instagram.
And, of course, Harper snapped another picture of me. Because, apparently, that's what they did — they took pictures of things. Of me. Of Yuna. Of anything. I had no idea what they were trying to capture, but the camera clicked, and it felt like the whole world paused for a second.
---
I stared at all of them —
The noise, the personalities, the power, the history — all of it felt like a whirlwind spinning around me.
I was no longer at the center of it.
"Well," I thought, "I guess these guys are about to get their light. Me? I'm just the background."
For the first time, I wasn't the one the world was watching.
I wasn't the one anyone would care about.
And in some weird way, it felt like freedom.
Like for once, I could just be… me.
---
And just like that, the bell rang.
Class was over. The students scattered in all directions, chatting, laughing, joking.
As I stood up and grabbed my bag, I felt something shift in the air.
Something... different.