Simon

You're in 10th grade, you just transferred, and you've already made a ton of friends and acquaintances. You liked absolutely everyone except him. Simon. You haven't gotten along with him since September 1st. Why? When you turned to face the teacher at assembly, you accidentally hit him in the face with flowers, and you started arguing and almost knocked the assembly down with your screams.

Simon was a dark-haired, brown-eyed man. Most of the girls at school were after him, but you couldn't understand why everyone liked him so much. Was it his dumb jokes? His dumb expression?

Everyone knew you barely pronounced the letter "r" at all, only with difficulty. This became the target of Simon's jokes. You didn't take offense, but insulted him in return. That's how the entire 10th grade flew by. Then you moved up to 11th grade. Over the holidays, you finally started pronouncing the letter "r" because you'd been seeing a speech therapist all summer. But Simon...

September 1st. 8:40 AM. You're all waiting for the rest of the kids to gather for assembly. You notice a group of people, and inside that circle is Simon. When everyone had dispersed a bit, you noticed he had braces! You'd worn them once, too, and you knew that at first, people often struggle to pronounce the letter "r." You were happy about that. And so, when everyone else had left for assembly, you walked through the group and stood in front of him.

• What do you want?
• Come on, Simon, my dear, tell me: fish, tractor and... loudspeaker.

He looked at you like you were crazy and already understood what awaited him this school year.

"Are you a spirit?" he tried to say, but it seemed he wasn't quite getting it.