The summer seemed to stretch on forever, but before I knew it, August was slipping away, signaling not just the end of summer break but the start of something new.

Middle school.

A fresh start. A new chapter.

I was both excited and terrified at the thought of it. Sixth grade meant stepping into an unfamiliar world—a building twice the size of elementary school, lockers with impossible combinations, and teachers who didn’t baby you if you forgot your homework.

A whole new set of rules to figure out.

Tiffany was going to be in my class, which was a small comfort. She was practically bouncing off the walls. She had planned her first-day outfit down to the shoelaces and spent the days leading up to the first day of school chattering endlessly about which perfume to wear, how to style her hair, and how many books she could cram into her bag. It was all part of her routine. She thrived on new beginnings—the excitement, the drama, the promise of new crushes.

We had already discussed everything down to the smallest details—where we’d sit, what we’d wear on Mondays, and how we’d navigate the labyrinth of lockers and hallways.

But then there was Blake.

For the first time ever, he would be starting school too.

It felt almost surreal to think about Blake stepping into the same world that Tiffany and I were about to enter. I couldn’t help but wonder how he’d fit in. How would he handle the classroom, the noise, the chaos of being around so many people?

Blake, the quiet one, who preferred the solitude of his own thoughts over the noise of group conversation… It was hard to wrap my mind around it, to imagine him in a classroom with other kids. Would he find one or two friends who understood his introverted ways, or would he remain an observer, always watching but never fully part of the crowd, too hesitant to join in?

I tried to picture him in the cafeteria, trying to find a seat, or walking between classes, looking lost among all the unfamiliar faces. What if they didn’t accept him? What if they ignored him, or worse, made fun of him?

My chest tightened just thinking about it.

They might think he was weird or too different.

Blake’s brilliance could make him stand out in ways that made him even more of an outsider. What if they mocked him for answering questions too easily? He was so smart, sometimes too smart for his own good, and I could already hear the whispers, the teasing. They would laugh at him for his knowledge, maybe even call him a “know-it-all”.

Oh, God.

I couldn’t bear the thought of them making fun of him for the very thing that made him who he was.