A new school year, a new class. We weren't exactly strangers—most of us already knew each other—but what was new was that we were now officially in class 2-6.
"Flora, will you please be our class president again?" Sana had asked me with her big, brown puppy eyes. We'd been best friends since second grade, when she accidentally threw up on my Barbie. I forgave her, and somehow that's how we became inseparable.
"Pretty please?" she added, blinking way too many times to look cute. I had been class president every year. Sometimes it got exhausting, but since everyone seemed to want me to do it again, I said yes.
"You're a lifesaver!" Magnus yelled, throwing in a wink. He flirted with every girl in class. Dante and Noah immediately threw their books at him. "Not with our dear class president, whiteboy," Dante shouted, and the entire class burst into laughter.
Everything in our class just clicked. We were close, loud, chaotic, but always there for each other. It felt like the perfect way to start the school year. Everyone was happy to be back. Everything went well. Except for one tiny problem—well, not that tiny.
Like in every big group, there were smaller groups. That's how you ended up with the so-called 'Big Three' or the 'mean girls' or whatever name people came up with. The worst of them? Definitely the Big Three. They were probably the biggest bullies in the entire school.
First, there was Noah, the chill one with curly brown hair. Then Magnus, his best friend, blond and sharp-tongued. But leading them all was Dante. Everyone seemed to have a crush on him—his long dark hair, his deep brown eyes, the kind you could supposedly get lost in. His smile made girls weak in the knees. Personally, I didn't get the hype. He wasn't that special.
Then there were the mean girls: Aria, the quiet one. Zara, the prettiest. And Mira, who was without a doubt the meanest. Mira and Dante had even dated back in sixth grade. Messy history, if you asked me.
Next were the so-called nerds. Zane looked exactly like the stereotype—round glasses, braces, and slicked-back hair. His best friend Ronan didn't look like a nerd at all. In fact, he was ridiculously good-looking and had some of the best grades in class. Girls liked him too, which might've explained why Dante and Ronan weren't exactly on good terms.
Ronan hung out with another group we called the TikTok boys. Don't ask me how they got that name—they just had this TikTok account where they did those trending challenges. There were three of them: Asher, the type everyone called a "smash boy." Then Talon, who was new and had just moved here from Afghanistan. His twin brother, Amir, was in the group too. Believe it or not, they had over 100,000 followers.
Some of the boys were just... normal. Axel was one of the kindest guys in class. He always helped me out when the whole class president thing became too much. Then there was Cade, the funniest guy I knew. He had perfect comedic timing—except for the times when his jokes came at the worst possible moments. Cade and Tarek were basically the class pranksters. One time, they threw milk on our teacher just because she gave us a hard exam. Like it wasn't her fault.
The girls, on the other hand, were more united. There was me, Sana, Skye, Zeynep, Aurora, Amara, and Eliana. Skye was always seen with a book in her hand, a true bookworm. Zeynep was the fashion icon, with sleek black hair and a perfect figure. Her best friend Aurora had shiny blonde curls that could make anyone envious. Amara kept to herself more, but we'd known each other forever—we came from the same village. And Eliana? Total party girl. I swear, she was out partying every single night.
