Hailey walked out of the school gym, having just finished a meeting for the National Honors Society. She had always been the top student, highest grades, best attendance. Everyone else thought she was perfect. As she walked through the halls, people moved around her even as she got absorbed in her own head. Every thought ran through her mind like magnet rails, seeming uncoordinated with almost none of them on the same track.

Why did she have to be the one that was perfect? Everyone envied her, but she envied the quiet kids who seemed to escape notice - everyone’s notice but hers. She looked for them and longed for their place. She was tired of the spotlight, she wanted someone else to take the lead. She continued walking to her next class quietly, not dealing with everything running through her head.

She is who she is, and that was something that she had always believed since her mother told her so as a child. She is who she is, and there’s no point in fighting it. Hailey had always hated that, the “no point in fighting it” stance her mother took. She felt like it was an excuse for people who didn’t want to change their own bad habits. And yet, Hailey herself couldn’t stand being wrong.

Having been forced to be perfect for so long, failure was something she couldn’t handle. The smallest mistake she’d beat herself up over, the smallest imperfection and she felt she herself was wrong - not just what she said or did. It was a heavy weight to carry, even heavier to carry alone. But who would help her? She didn’t have any friends - just more competition.

Walking into the lunchroom, she looked to her normal table where the other top students sat and bickered with each other over meaningless test scores and pointless accreditations, but found there was no room for her. Searching for another spot, she found that every table was full except one, and so she got her lunch and took a seat.

As Sebastian got himself dressed again, he felt dirty. Disgusting. Once again, he had traded his dignity for his grades. He had the test answers and the final, a guaranteed A. Was it worth it? He didn’t know, but he didn’t let his uncertainty show. He flashed a smile at the girl he just finished with and walked out, adjusting his belt. Why was he always like this? Oh, he knew why, but he hated it. But he couldn’t stop. Every time he tried, he just did it again. Smiled just this way, said just that thing, and then…he had what he wanted. And he felt terrible about himself.

That didn’t matter right now. He had to get to lunch and do everything with that signature smile. If he didn’t smile, if he let it show, it would all be for nothing. He’d lose everything he worked so hard for. He’d lose it all, and all he’d be left with is self-hatred. So he smiled. He stepped lively, and he walked straight to lunch without a care in the world.

The bell ringing was irritating his head. Couldn’t it be a little quieter? He felt a smaller form knock into him and a sneer crossed his face before he could think. Damn freshman. He hated freshmen. They always got in the way. Too young to manipulate, too old to leave this place - they were the worst. He considered berating the small girl who knocked into him, but decided against it - what was the point?

He was past the point of feeling better about himself by making others feel worse. That worked sometimes, but sometimes it just made him feel worse. He didn’t feel like gambling today. So, he grunted and kept walking. Straight to the lunchroom. There was a slight problem, though. The sycophants he usually sat with had a full table. So did everyone else, except for one table with a single girl at it. He sat down.

Maria left Chemistry hiding her fear. She had no time to study last night because her parents were fighting all night, and she had to leave in the middle of the night to get out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, that gave her an F on her exam. One more F, and she loses her position on the football team. If she were anyone else, that might not be as big of a deal, but she was the first girl to captain her school’s football team.

Losing her position on the team meant losing everything she’d ever worked for. But how could she start passing classes with no talent and no time? She lamented her failure as she walked away from her class, throwing away the paper that proved her incompetence. She had no money to hire a tutor and no time to find one anyway. Was she really doomed to lose her position on the team just because of her grades?

Unfortunately, there was no choice in the matter. A friend of hers fell in line next to her and she swapped meaningless pleasantries with the boy, not paying attention to what she was saying, or what he was saying either. She missed her test in her Algebra course yesterday, so she still had a test to make up later. She couldn’t help but stress over it. She’d probably fail that one, too, with her luck, and lose her captainship.

Where was she going again? Oh, yeah, lunch. She had gotten lost in thought. She took a few turns and found her way back to the cafeteria. She was falling apart, but she had to focus - wait. She looked around. The table where she usually sat with the football boys was full. So was every other table. Except one, another boy and girl sat down there already. She swallowed her pride and got her food and sat down.

Alex was being silent again. As always, he floated just beneath notice in the class, second best on the charts, quiet in the corner. Everyone saw him, but no one noticed him. Currently, he was planning for his next character. He never had much of a social life outside of one activity - roleplaying games. He had an idea for his next character and was mapping it out right now. It was part of how he kept to himself during the school day, writing and reading.

Unless they were already friends with him, nobody wanted to approach Alex if he looked busy. And almost no one was already friends with him. As the bell rang, he picked his things up and walked out the door, headed to the cafeteria. His peaceful walk was interrupted, however, when he felt a large boy shove him into the wall.

He heard the boy saying the usual taunts and names, he was used to bullying by now. Nerd, geek, freak, creep, weirdo, it didn’t hurt him anymore. What did hurt, though, was his head. The throbbing pain of the impact coupled with the spinning sensation was rough. Why did they always aim for the head? He wasn’t in football because he didn’t want head trauma. Kindness or logic didn’t stop the bullying, though. With any luck, he could move past and they’d just taunt him as a coward.

He was lucky today, as he walked away, no one grabbed his arm or tried to drag him back. He moved past their jeering and headed to lunch, only to realize he wasn’t as lucky as he thought. His lunch table was usually completely empty, leaving him to eat in peace. Unfortunately, today, there were already two girls and a boy at the table. Begrudgingly, he sat and got out his food.

Kyle felt the tears falling down his face before he realized what was happening. They only stole his candy to tease him, why did he always have to cry? Kyle himself didn’t know, but he still cried. The boy making fun of him mocked his tears and threw his candy on the ground. Quietly, Kyle picked up his candies and put them back in the bag as the boy walked away.

He was never the type to speak out, never the type to fight back. He always just stayed on his own. He held his sketchbook close to his chest, putting the candy back in his pocket and picking up his bag to take it with him. He walked out into the courtyard on his way to the cafeteria. Wanting to calm down, he took a five minute break to sketch the tree in front of him. A line here, some cross-hatching there, and he had a nice sketch in his sketchbook. He loved to sketch people and things. Whatever was in front of him could always become a reference.

It worked, though. As he finished his quick sketch, he felt much calmer than before. He never knew why he was so emotional when it seemed no other boys ever were, though. He always tried to figure it out and always seemed to fail. But it was no matter. He was already hungry. Normally, he’d just get a snack from his bag, but right now was already time for lunch, and he wouldn’t pass up pizza day.

As always, the lunch ladies gave him an extra slice - they felt bad for him because he was always so skinny, he knew that. When he came out, though, he ran into a problem. The table that the other art kids all sat at was full. The only table with an open seat had two boys and two girls at it. He hoped that they weren’t mean as he sat down.