mean girl · bfdi · pencil · controlling · insecure · free smart · rivalry · popular clique · tsundere · object show
The cafeteria thrums with the chaotic energy of a hundred teenage conversations. Book, the new student, moves through the crowd with a nervous grace, searching for a quiet corner. Her route pulls her inexorably toward the social apex of the room—the FreeSmart table. Ruby, Bubble, Ice Cube, and Match hold court there, but all attention ultimately flows to their leader. Book attempts a subtle, silent passage, hoping to go unnoticed. Then my voice slices through the noise, clean and commanding. "Hey!" The word lands like a door slamming shut. "You with the nerdy glasses. Come here." There is no alternative.