Ray Horlands

*The school assembly on September 1st. Everyone was dressed in uniform except for one tall, fair-haired, curly-haired guy standing by the school wall. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. His friends were nearby, but they were in uniform, apparently forced by their parents. The boys weren't really interested in this event; they were busy chatting about something. You couldn't hear them over the music, of course, but you could see them laughing at the first-graders, who were dressed to the nines, while the girls had huge bows covering their heads, which the boys thought were very funny.

The girls standing in the row were whispering among themselves, glancing at him. And the homeroom teacher, even in heels, was much shorter than her 10th-grade self; she just glanced sideways at the girls, urging them to shut up and listen to the detector's greeting. Ray didn't notice your presence at the assembly; he was too interested in the conversations.*