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A S I STRIDE DOWN THE hallway of the prestigious Emberwell College, everyone stares at me. I don’t know why I thought things would be different here. Just because this isn’t high school and everyone is supposed to be an adult doesn’t mean they still won’t sneer and look down on me.

Am I really that different from them? We’re all students here, and yeah, getting in requires a whole lot of money. But I’m only here because I got a scholarship. It’s super rare because the college offers one spot per year.

I had to work my ass off to get where I am. But instead of treating me like any other student who earned their right to be here, they see my clothes and my bag, and suddenly I’m not good enough or I’m strange to them.

It doesn’t matter that I’m just another brown-eyed girl with long dark brown hair in the crowd. I stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd that’s wearing the most expensive brands and bags, which are worth more than my parents’ car.

Shouldn’t it matter more who I am as a person? Clothes are just clothes. A few decades ago, uniforms were a must here, but someone at some point decided to protest against it and the college changed the rules.

But I just got here, and I’m new. Hopefully, everyone will get used to my weirdness, or well, ordinariness, and they’ll ignore me if they don’t like me, and I’ll make friends with those who aren’t so shallow.

Despite the stares and some glares, I’m bursting with happiness and pride. Being here means so much to me. Everyone who finishes this college gets employed really quickly, and that’s exactly what I’m hoping for—a good, well-paying job after college that will give me a great life. From there, I’ll figure things out.

I don’t know how many sleepless nights I’d spent and how many extracurriculars I’d taken in high school, but all the blood, sweat, and tears were worth it.

I’m lucky the college is in my town and just a few blocks away from my family home. My scholarship only covers tuition, so I was over the moon when my request to live at home instead of in the beyond-expensive dorms got approved.

I glance at the sheet of paper with the map of the college. The classroom for my first class should be right around the corner. This place is so big and grandiose, like a palace, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to use my map for a while. There are multiple buildings too, so I’ll have to figure out where I’m supposed to go.

I had to miss my orientation class, which was a week ago, because there were some minor issues with my paperwork, but from now on, there’s no way I’m missing out on anything.

The chatter coming from the classroom excites me. Surely, not everyone will be—

I freeze in the doorway because the whole room goes silent and everyone’s eyes turn to me. My gaze lands on a pair of cold blue eyes staring at me from under a mop of messy black hair. The weight of his gaze presses down on me as I scurry to the nearest empty seat.

Everyone’s still watching me, but now the room is full of soft murmurs and laughs.

“Hey, are you blind? We’re in here. You can come clean later!” a deep, confident, masculine voice says.

Everyone else laughs as if he said the most hilarious thing ever.

Ugh. Really?

I glance over my shoulder at the handsome guy. He’s in the center of attention, and everyone’s sitting around him. As if he’s their king, and they are his servants. I bet the girls laughing so hard around him can’t feel their cheeks anymore from smiling so much.

It’s only been a week, so how the hell are they all so obsessed with him already? Maybe some of them know one another from high school or from some other place. There’s an Emberwell private high school too, so most of them just continue their studies here. I don’t know where rich kids hang out because I was never one of them.

Those who weren’t part of their little crowd from before must have joined them. It’s better to be friends with the popular kids than befriend a pariah. The first comes with benefits, even if you have to bite your tongue when you disagree with them. The latter only brings you trouble and makes you a target.

I should know. I was a member of the popular mean-girl group in my school, before I knew any better and realized that the whole thing didn’t align with who I was and who I wanted to be.

But it doesn’t matter if everyone hates me or just refuses to be ostracized along with me. I’m here to learn and pave the way to my future. Silly games don’t matter to me and stupid comments can’t hurt me. I’ll just ignore them all.

“Hey, you! Are you deaf too?” the guy yells. “You can’t just walk in here and sit with us. There’s no such thing as free education.”

I sigh and roll my eyes at him. A snappy reply is right on the tip of my tongue, but I choose not to say anything. If I engage, they’ll see their comments bug me and they’ll keep pestering me to upset me for fun.

I refuse to be their entertainment, so I’m going to pretend I can’t hear them.

The hottie would probably be offended and ask for me to be kicked out of Emberwell if I told him he was lucky to have that pretty face and those blue eyes because that’s the only reason people ignore his clear lack of brains.

“I think she’s deaf,” a girl says. “And definitely blind. Look at that sweater she’s wearing.”

“Must’ve found it in the trash.” Another girl laughs.

“Since when are we accepting trash pandas?”

“No, seriously. Where is she from? Does she even speak our language?”

“Someone call security. She wasn’t here last week.”

I grab my bag and reach for my notebook, trying my best not to react to anything they say. Stupid paperwork! If I’d been here last week, maybe things would be different, and I wouldn’t be the only new and interesting person in class.

And this place might be enormous, but there aren’t that many students, especially new ones. That’s what’s special about this college and gives it more prestige—the fact that the classes are smaller and the professors have time to actually pay attention to their students.

It’s more than just giving a lecture and forgetting that we exist. The professors are supposed to work with us individually too, and everyone is supposed to be friendly. The brochure calls Emberwell one happy family. I don’t need a family, but I’ll take everything else they offer.

I start doodling just to have something else to focus on. The comments cease a little, and when the professor shows up, everyone finally goes quiet.

“Oh, Noemi, you’re here,” the professor says when her brown eyes find me. “Welcome.”

I give her a smile, and there are murmurs among the students again. They’re much quieter this time, so I don’t understand what they’re saying. Now that they can no longer claim I’m here by mistake, they can forget about me.

But I feel someone’s intent gaze on me, and I glance in the direction of the source of that feeling. A shiver runs down my spine, and I don’t even know why.

It’s him. It’s the most popular guy. His face is completely serious as he stares at me, studying me as if I were an animal in a zoo. The girl sitting next to him notices, and she laughs about something and touches his arm to catch his attention.

He keeps staring at me, and I force my gaze away and take a deep breath to shake off the uncomfortable sensation.

It’s my first day. It was bound to be weird. Tomorrow, everyone will find me boring. If not tomorrow, then next week.

I have to be patient and calm no matter what. This is just a storm that will wash over me eventually, and then the sun will rise.