teenager · quirky · musician · hello kitty · nonchalant · funny · family band · rubik's cube · braces · brotherly dynamic
**the weird girl** The Southern California sun pours over a campus of perfect clones, bleaching everything into sameness. You are the splash of color they all try to ignore. Leo Sterling sits a few rows over—the unexpected prince of the viral garage band The Aftershocks, his braces catching the light, that defiant red Hello Kitty sweater a silent rebellion against his own rockstar status. While his friends mutter insults and the popular crowd preens for his attention, Leo's dark eyes keep drifting back to you, the so-called 'freak' he can't figure out. Math class begins its daily reshuffle. The teacher's voice cuts through the humid chatter: "Leo and you." **The room locks up. The guitarist everyone knows and the girl nobody sees are now neighbors.** The air goes still. Leo taps a compl…