ALEXA

The class was boring, to say the least. Alexa had never been good in Biology, textbook-related or physical-related. Every boy who looked at her ran away because of her height or sniggered when she bumped into door frames. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to get the five grandchildren her mother wanted from her, or even get a date by the time she was 28.

The worst part of the class was the horrifying sight coming from next to her. Every time Yasmin whispered a joke or adjusted her hijab slightly so that the material flowed down her back, Neil would just stare and stare and stare. It was honestly getting uncomfortable. Alexa was finding it hard to laugh at Yasmin's jokes when Neil would let out a small giggle and look at her with glossed-over eyes. She honestly felt like ripping out his blonde hair. And wasn't it not allowed to date on Yasmin's culture? Neil was going to get a huge beating from her older brothers if he kept his lovesick behaviour up.

Who said she would be third-wheeling for the rest of her life with her only two friends? Alexa wasn't mentally prepared for this. Nobody had told her this information when she was in fifth grade. Maybe then she'd have enough time to prepare herself for this disgusting situation.

Feeling more single than she had ever felt, Alexa started to groggily walk to her next class. Though Brittain was only an hour behind Switzerland, she still felt like she should have been sleeping right now. This was partly true because, during the holidays, Alexa would doze off at around two am, and then wake up at around eleven in the afternoon. Earning stern gazes from her parents, she would rush to get up and comb her hair, brush her teeth, wear new clothes, and look presentable in ten minutes. (the bare minimum for her family). Then she would be forced to sit down for an hour a day to do her homework instead of enjoying the vacation.

What a stupid concept, homework. Especially when they gave it to you on the holidays. What was the po-

Alexa widened her eyes, rustling through the notebooks in her hands as she picked up speed to Spanish class, which was on a higher floor. She grabbed the papers which flew into the air with ease, but searching through them was clearly not.

"Where the fuck is my homework?" she cursed. Swearing that she had put it in their respective books, she frantically flipped the pages of her Spanish book, filled with doodles on the corners. She accidentally bumped into a boy and apologized, picking up the books from the ground with haste and hearing him mutter an insult. She didn't turn around to retaliate because she was jumping up the stairs, before stopping abruptly.

If I don't have my Spanish homework, why am I running to go to the place where I'll get punished for it?
But I know I can't bunk, I'm really bad at lying...

Trudging up the stairs at a now much slower pace, she double-checked her notebook. How had the stairs multiples themselves when she was running up, but seemed to divide themselves when she had wanted them to last longer?

Opening the class door with hesitancy, she sighed when she realised the teacher wasn't there and ran up the stairs to the topmost seat. Next to her was Whitney, the blonde girl who wasn't very useful in proving that blondes weren't dumb because she absolutely was. She hadn't even noticed Alexa sitting down next to her, still staring blankly at her pink pencil pouch as if having a serious conversation with it.

Alexa set her books down and started to flip through them more meticulously, but the sheet of paper with her holiday assignment was nowhere to be seen. She groaned and put her head in her hands, knowing that the teacher would probably have her guts for dinner.

Her black hair fell over her shoulders as she imagined herself in a dramatic movie, but she immediately stood up with the rest of the students to greet the teacher who had just entered the class. She was short- well, everyone was short for Alexa- and she had one of the most Edna-like bob cuts anyone had ever seen. She just needed to have round glasses, and she could've fit the role perfectly.

The teacher smiled, though it did not really reach her eyes. Scanning class, she gave a startled look to Alexa (gawking at her height, like everyone else, she presumed) before turning away from her and towards the door. She gestured for a boy to come in, and Alexa squinted her eyes, trying to remember him. She knew everyone in her Spanish class, but there was someone she didn't- did he enter the wrong class or something? She glanced to the side and saw that Whitney was staring at him, someone conveniently done with her pencil pouch argument.

Hah, it would be pretty cliche if he was the new student or something. I can name fifty stories from the top of my head where there's new kid and the blonde kid have a crush on eachother, but there's this black haired girl who's jealous of her and bullies her and then he comes to rescue her and- wait a second, don't I have black hair?

"Good morning class, this will be your new classmate, Rafael." the teacher smiled as Alexa gaped in shock. When had the teacher ever smiled? She hadn't even smiled when Pedro had gotten a 100/100 on his Spanish finals last year- what on earth made this new guy special?

"He's my nephew. Please treat him well," the teacher beamed.

Oh, Wow. Nepotism, technically.

The whole class was still recovering from the fact that their spanish teacher had more emotions than disappointment or rage before quietly sitting back down. Alexa was a second late, though it didn't really matter- sitting or not, she still looked like she was standing tallest in the room.