My backpack somehow manages to be both too big and the wrong shape for my torso – it dangles off my shoulder at an alarming angle as I try to navigate our school's entrance. I'm the only one wearing a bright orange windbreaker, and I can practically hear my classmates mocking me from across the courtyard. Every time I walk past Ms. Patel's room, she gives me disapproving looks that make me wonder if my shirt's vibrant hue is somehow seeping into the fluorescent lighting. Today I wore it on purpose, partly out of defiance, but mostly just because I spilled coffee all over the shirt that morning and this one was the first thing I found on my closet floor.
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