The girls came the next week, just like the biology teacher promised.
They came in slowly with new faces, new voices, new perfumes floating through the stale classroom air. The energy shifted. Some guys immediately switched up....suddenly answering questions, fixing their hair, sitting straighter.
I didn't care. Not really.
I scanned through the newcomers, half-hoping to see Joana even though I knew she wasn't coming here. This wasn't her center. This wasn't her crowd. This wasn't her.
And then there was Yvette.
At first, she was background noise. Just another girl with books , , scribbling notes like she actually cared about osmosis.
She didn't have Joana's spotlight energy. She wasn't loud or flashy. But there was something steady about her, like she knew who she was and didn't need anyone else to say it.
I don't know when it shifted. One day I looked up and noticed the curve of her smile when she got a question right. The way she raised her hand like she was challenging the teacher, not asking. The way her eyes locked in when she was listening, like the world faded out when she focused.
She was a distraction. That's all I thought she'd be.
But then she started to matter.
And suddenly… it wasn't so simple anymore.
So here's the thing, I still hadn't said a single word to Yvette.
Not "hi," not "excuse me," not even one of those awkward nods you give someone when you lock eyes by accident. Nothing. I always stayed in my quiet corner, minding my business like usual.
But Prince?
Prince had her number.
She didn't even know who he was. Still doesn't make sense how he got it, but one day after class, he just started texting her. Out of nowhere.
And then, for reasons only Prince knows, he sent her a picture of me.
Yeah, me.
It was one of those random pictures I took during break. Nothing special. I snapped it at Dennis's house. But apparently, it hit. They all agreed I looked sharp, like one of those effortlessly cool guys who didn't try too hard. Prince thought it would "help the vibe."
Only problem? She thought I was Prince.
So now she's texting him about me, thinking we're the same person.
"She says I look nice," Prince told me, grinning like he just brokered a peace treaty. "She's asking about you, but she thinks you're me."
I just stared at him. "So… what now?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Say hi to her after class or something."
But I didn't. I couldn't. Not yet.
Yvette was forming this whole version of me through someone else's phone screen and I wasn't sure if the real me could live up to that. Prince had rizz.