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Mr Schubert lifts an eyebrow “Excuse me?”

“I go by Vann”

“Oh Well, alright Noted Please take your seat, Vann”

With that, Donovan—or Vann, I guess—heads down the aisle of tables It isn’t lost on irls he passes, how they seeive hiirl by the aisle even sha her lip When he finally reaches s his black backpack (adorned with a line of safety pins down one side like a path of ht onto the stool byme

I catch a hint of sorant Is that his deodorant? Or is it soap? Or the leather of his jacket? Whatever it is, it captures ust of air that washes overthat stool Clean … He slance from the front of the classroo at ins to tell us about the subjects we should expect to cover this semester and what he expects from us in return

And I catch absolutely none of the teacher’s words, distracted as I a there, Vann has a strong, stoic, ht crease of concentration in his face muscles, which is the subtle, artful difference between hierous This type of masculinity is different to me Maybe I’m just used to the boorish type my stepdad Carl exudes, or the cocky du jockstraps

Vann is so that isn’t Spruce-like in any way, and maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to him

Despite the fact that he ht’ve been expelled from his last school Or sent a kid to the hospital Or murdered someone

He-said-she-said, right?

“I reco comfy ho you’re seated next to,” Mr Schubert announces to the class, my attention pulled back by the authoritative lift in his voice, “because you’ll be partners the rest of the year If you wish to pair up differently, now’s the time”

There is a cal the room before, in a shuffle, some fast choices are irl hurries to another table to ask the boy there if she can partner with her friend next to hilasses Someone else’s head pops up like a deer in the woods, -shopping who else they can pair up with, while their current tablemate sulks, bored