I walk through the hallways of Lincoln Middle School. Everything looked bigger than I remembered.
But I know it was because I was an adult in the body of a twelve year old.
I watched the other kids rush around with their oversized backpacks and squeaky voices. They seemed so young and innocent. They worried about things like forgotten homework and who to sit with at lunch.
Well, I used to worry about those things too but now my plans are bigger.
“Avie!” Ava’s voice rang out behind me. She caught up, her blonde hair bouncing with each step. “Wait for mel”
I stopped and turned. Already, kids were looking at her. Boys stared like she was some kind of movie star while girls watched with a mix of admiration and jealousy.
Even at twelve, Ava knew how to command a room.
“You look so pretty today,” Madison Collins said, appearing beside us. Madison was popular. The kind of popular that mattered in middle school.
“Thank you!” Ava beamed. “I love your shoes.”
Madison giggled and fell into step beside her. Just like that, Ava had gained another follower.
I watched it happen with new eyes. The way Ava tilted her head when she listened. The way she touched people’s arms when she talked. The way she made everyone feel like they were the most important person in the world.
She was good at this, way too good. A social bird.
“Hi Madison,” I waved.
Madison glanced at me. “Oh, hi Avery.”
Her voice was flat, it was polite but empty. She turned back to Ava immediately.
“So are you coming to my pool party this weekend?” Madison asked.
“I’d love to!” Ava clasped her hands together. “Can Avery come too?
She asked even though we both know this was another mockery set up.
The question hung in the air for a second too long.
“Sure,” Madison said finally. But I could hear it in her voice ther she didn’t want me there.
“Actually,” I said, “I might be busy this weekend.”
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Chapter 8
Both girls looked at me with surprise.
“Busy with what?” Ava asked.
“Just stuff.”
The truth was, I remembered Madison’s pool party from the first time. I remembered spending the whole afternoon sitting alone while everyone crowded around Ava. I remembered pretending to have fun while feeling invisible. I remembered everyone’s subtle bullying and Ava “standing up” for me.
Arrgg I wouldn’t do that again.
“Come on,” Ava tugged my arm. “It’ll be fun.”
“Maybe,” I said.
But I was already walking away.
In first period English, Mrs. Patterson smiled as we filed in.
“Welcome back, class! I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break.”
The whole class chorused a happy yes.
“Ava, dear, how was your party?” She asked, beaming at her.
Ava’s face lit up. “It was amazing, Mrs. Patterson. Thank you for asking.”
“I’m so glad. And you, Avery? Did you enjoy your celebration?”
The question felt like an afterthought.
“It was fine,” I said.
Mrs. Patterson nodded and moved on. But I noticed something I didn’t in my past life. When she looked at Ava, her whole face softened. When she looked at me, she was just being polite.
It was the same look Mom and Dad gave us.
34
During the lesson, I raised my hand to answer a question about metaphors. I knew the answer. I’d always been good at English.
“Yes, Ava?”
“Actually,” I said, “I raised my hand.”
Mrs. Patterson looked confused. “Oh, sorry dear. Go ahead.”
I gave the correct answer. She nodded approvingly but didn’t seem impressed.
Five minutes later, Ava raised her hand with a much simpler observation. Mrs. Patterson practically glowed.
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Chapter 8
“Excellent point, Ava! Such insight!”
I stared at my desk. Even the teachers saw what they wanted to see.
At lunch. I sat at our usual table with Ava and her growing circle of admirers. They talked about clothes and TV shows and who was dating who. Normal twelve–year–old stuff.
My gaze wandered to the other kids. The ones eating alone, ones who looked uncomfortable. The ones who tried to join conversations but got ignored.
There was Arthur, the kid who was obsessed with science fiction. He sat by himself every day, reading thick books with dragons on the covers.
There was Lily Sanders, who was brilliant at math but too shy to speak up in class. She always sat in the back row, hunched over her notebook.
There was Daniel, who stuttered when he got nervous. Other kids made fun of him behind his back.
These were the kids I never really noticed before. The invisible ones. The ones likes me.
“Earth to Avery,” Ava waved her hand in front of my face. “You’re being weird again.”
“Sorry.”
“We were talking about trying out for the school play,” Sarah said. “You should audition too.”
“What play?”
“Romeo and Juliet,” Madison said. “But like, the middle school version.”
“I’m definitely trying out for Juliet,” Ava announced.
Of course she was. And she’d most probably get it too.
“What about you, Avery?” Sarah asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
But I was thinking about something else.
After lunch, I did something I’d never done before.
I walked over to Arthur.
“Hi,” I said, sitting down beside him.
He looked up from his book, startled. “Um, hi?”
“What are you reading?”
“Just some fantasy stuff.” He held up the book like he was embarrassed. “It’s kind of nerdy.”
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Chapter 8
“I like nerdy things,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really. Tell me about it.”
For the next fifteen minutes, Arthur talked about dragons and magic and epic quests. His whole face changed when he talked about something he loved. He wasn’t the weird quiet kid anymore. He was passionate and smart and funny.
“Nobody ever asks me about books,” he said finally.
“That’s their loss.”
He smiled. A really big smile. Like he couldn’t believe someone was interested in what he had to say.
“Would you want to eat lunch together sometime?” I asked.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“But don’t you sit with your sister and all the popular kids?”
I looked across the cafeteria at Ava’s table. She was in the middle of some dramatic story, using her hands to gesture while everyone hung on her every word.
“Not anymore,” I said.
Arthur looked confused but hopeful.
The next day, I sat with him at lunch. Lily was at the table next to us, eating alone as usual.
“Hey Lily,” I called out. “Want to sit with us?”
She looked around like she thought I was talking to someone else.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Arthur was just telling me about this cool book series.”
Lily gathered her lunch and moved over hesitantly. At first she barely spoke. But when Arthur mentioned something about mathematical patterns in fantasy worlds, her eyes lit up.
“Actually,” she said quietly, “there are some interesting statistical models that could apply to magic systems…”
And just like that, she wasn’t shy anymore. She was brilliant.
By the end of the week, our little table had grown. Daniel joined us after I complimented his art project. Then Emma, who was new and didn’t know anyone. Then Kevin, who everyone avoided because he smelled like cigarettes from his dad’s smoking.
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Chapter 8
They were all different. All outcasts in their own way.
But they were wonderful and loyal. When someone showed them kindness, they remembered it.
“You’re being really weird lately,” Ava said as we walked home Friday afternoon.
“Weird how?”
“Sitting with those kids. Not hanging out with our friends.”
Our friends. Like I’d ever really been part of that group,
“Maybe I just like different people now.”
She stopped walking. “What’s wrong with you?”
I looked at my sister. My perfect, popular, beloved sister who had everything handed to her.
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I said. “Maybe something’s wrong with everyone else.”
That night, I lay in bed thinking about my new clique of friends.
They were good people. Real people. The kind who didn’t care about being popular or pretty or perfect.
The kind who would stick by you when things got hard.
田
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
