Third-Person POV

The halls of East Bridge International High School were eerily quiet on the first day of school. The members of the brand-new freshman class were walking down the hallways, trying to avoid eye contact with their classmates as much as possible.

The sophomores were a bit more extroverted, except for the 20 or so kids who were new students. All of the new students had one thing in common- they were scared.

Scared because this was their first day of school in America. Scared because they were afraid of language barriers. Scared because they were worried about rude teachers, mean classmates.

Except for one extroverted, bubbly girl with long dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Hi!" the girl said to a bystander in an odd accent that sounded like a mix of Indian and English. The girl giggled a little and the person she said hello to looked at her awkwardly.

"I'm Grace." the girl said with a toothy grin, extending her hand for a handshake. "Grace Khatri, what's your name?"

The kid looked around awkwardly, shifting on their feet. Their hair was a short poof of dark brown curls and they had a similar eye color to Grace. They smiled a little and said, "I'm Lars Sua."

"Lars. That's a nice name, I like it. Less boring than Grace." Grace said with a chuckle. Lars shyly smiled and said, "Pronouns?"

"Hmm?"

"What are your pronouns?"

"Oh! She/her, thanks for asking, what are yours?"

"He/they/she, I'm genderfluid." Grace gasped a little at the sight of another LGBTQ+ kid. Even though her family was pretty accepting, it was always nice to meet another alphabet mafia member in the wild.

"Woah, cool!" Grace said, but was interrupted by a crash from down the hall. Arising from the chaos was a short Asian girl, followed closely by a girl with dark brown hair tied back in a high ponytail and wire-rimmed glasses.

"I think Kai's going to the nurse." the Asian girl chirped, pointing to a blonde boy lying on the floor of the hallway. That's what he gets for being such a bigot." The girl tied her long black hair up into a messy bun and said, "Sunny Kobayashi."

"Wait a minute, you're my roommate!" Grace said.

"Did you just pick a fight on the first day of school?" Lars said.

"Well, duh! Kai's in my homeroom. Saw the asexual pride flag on my Chromebook wallpaper, gave me that "That's not natural!" crap, and I kicked him in the shin as soon as the bell rang! God...I hate homophobes but making them learn their lesson is so much fun!"

"You're gonna get in trouble." Lars said.

"No I'm not. Did you even read the school handbook. Homophobia and transphobia are not tolerated here under any circumstances." Sunny said, and Lars said "Oh thank God..." under their breath."

"Hey. Speaking of homosexuality and whatnot...you guys are all gay, right?" the girl with the high ponytail said. The group looked at each other weirdly and then the girl said, "Probably not the best way to make a first impression, my name is Mia Fernandez. I've been sorta...questioning me sexuality...and it's all because of my roommate. Look at her, she's coming."

Mia pointed to a girl with long, curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

"Um...um...hallo, ich bin Evie...gah! English! I'm...Evie...and um...ich bin ein bisschen verloren...um, I mean lost."

"She's so pretty." Mia said under her breath. Mia took a deep breath and then said, "I'm Mia, what classroom are you looking for?"

Evie smiled a little and then said, "Wissenschaft...no. What's the word...science!"

Mia laughed and said, "You have Ms. Smith, right? Room 118, I'll take you."

"Wait! Mia!" Grace yelled before the girls could go anywhere.

"Yeah?"

"Do you all want to sit with me at lunch? I think we're gonna be pretty good friends."