reflection; lookism

chapter two: the new kid in town

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The noise level in the classroom is not going down any lower, no matter how much the teacher scolds everybody. The girls are swooning over Daniel already and the guys are glaring at him with malicious intent. And then there's Jay Hong, the boy who was staring out the window minutes ago, but is now staring at Daniel with full curiosity. You can admit that the transfer is very attractive, but you hope he was nice and caring. After all, it's the personality that counts, right?

"You can take that empty seat over there." Daniel walks over to his seat and greets his classmate, and you cringe when you realize who is sitting next to him. Zack mutters a "yeah, hi" to him and goes back to minding his own business.

'Hopefully Zack's nice to him,' you ponder quietly. You sneak a glance at Daniel and he has a worrisome expression written all over his face. Is he that nervous? You decide that it would be a good idea to introduce yourself to ease his nerves a bit. You head over to his desk and smile at him. 

"Hi, I'm Y/N Sun. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask me. Let's get to know each other better this year!" you tell him. Daniel has a moment of vulnerability there because he never had a girl being this nice to him. 

"Ah, thank you for that Y/N. I'll-" As soon he was about to finish his sentence, Zoe has the same idea as you and to introduced herself as well.

"Hey Daniel? Hi, I'm Zoe," the girl introduces herself. Your other classmates make faces behind her back, but you didn't notice any of that while you were talking to Daniel.

'I knew she would do that.'

'She's on it again.'

'As soon as she sees someone good-looking.'

Zoe flirts with Daniel again and his face starts to heat up from her compliments. Zoe doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon and the other girls in your class are judging her quite harshly.

'That bitch!' 

You can almost feel the piercing stares of the other girls, even if they aren't directed at you.  Zack has enough of her attempts to Daniel and orders her to stop flirting and to sit, adding that what she was doing was annoying. 

"Oh Zack! Stop being so scary!"

"Stop doing that, bitch!" he growls. You give Zack a look of disapproval and he sneers at you, not caring what he if what he was doing was nice or not. However, he feels like Mira is staring at him, but she's actually looking at Daniel. You can see her looking at Daniel too and Zack glaring at him, and you immediately know that Zack is up to no good.

"Okay, okay everyone stop talking and go back to your seats! We have a lot to talk about today, so take out your notes!" your teacher bellows. Zoe goes back to her seat and you do too but not forgetting to give the new boy a parting smile. You take your seat and look in your bag to get out your pencil pouch. 'Of course I had to leave it at home, ugh!'

Feeling a poke on your left, you turn to where Jay is sitting and he holds out an extravagant looking pencil. "Are you sure I can borrow this?" you ask him politely, with shocked eyes. It's always been this way, you forgetting something and Jay lending you one of his materials. You're still shocked and happy everytime, even though it happens so frequently. He gives a nod and you mouth a 'thank you,'  just in case the teacher yells at you. You go back to listening to the lecture, fidgeting with Jay's pencil. 

Unbeknownst to you, the enigmatic boy is smiling widely to himself as he peers out the window, watching the leaves fall gracefully and dancing in the wind.