he stranger and Ta looked at each other. Both burst out laughing. The man opened his arms wide, got up, and threw them around Ta
I glanced up from my desk. A girl I didn’t know stood there. She looked… different. Her glasses could have walked off a page from my Aunt Rina’s high school yearbook. Her stringy blonde hair was gathered in a haphazard ponytail; her chunky, worn sneakers looked totally out of place in a room full of brand-new school shoes.
“Is the seat taken?”
“Oh! Umm… no, not yet.” I’d been so taken aback that I’d forgotten to answer. The girl dumped her stuff into the seat. A worn backpack, a lunch box (who brings a lunch box?) that looked like a hand-me-down from an older brother, and a tissue box.
“I’m Simi,” she said simply. She smiled, revealing braces, as she tilted her head sideways, eyeing me with interest. “I’m new here.”
No kidding, I thought to myself. “W-welcome,” I offered feebly, looking away.
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