School. The one place you hated most. Kids were being way too loud for seven in the morning and you just had to have two exams on a Monday.

Uniforms are supposed to prevent bullying, aren’t they? To prevent kids for bullying others based on the quality of their clothes and the clothes they wore. But apparently not. You’re trudging your way down the hall to your first class and there’s girls laughing at the fact that you hadn’t tucked your shirt into your skirt and the fact that your hair was slightly unkempt from waking up late.

You make it to your first class and sit all the way in the back, setting your bag beside you with a huff. You had set it on the table to make sure no one sat beside you, not that anyone would, but you can never be too sure.

Well over fifteen minutes into the class, after the teacher had called attendance, you hear the door open and in walks a boy. He looks vaguely familiar. You’d seen him around the halls a few times. Way too tall for his own good and scraggly curly brown hair. His uniform looked as if it was put on in a rush as well. But he made an effort to look presentable at least. He finally speaks as he looks at the teacher.

“‘M sorry, miss. I don’t mean to be late. I missed the bus.”

He was soft spoken and the moment he was done with his sentence he looked down and made his way to the back of the room. All the other kids looked at him, probably because of his height.

And what you had dreaded most… you saw him coming right up to you, his head was still hung low before he looked at you briefly. He pointed at the seat beside you and asked quietly,

“Is this seat taken?”