I sat in the back row of the lecture hall trying to disappear into my notebook. Professor Kane’s voice filled the room as he explained the main points of our latest assignment, but I could barely focus. My notes were a mess of half-written sentences and doodles. The girls in the front row kept glancing back at me, whispering and laughing behind their hands.
“Professor’s pet,” one of them, Jessica, said loud enough for me to hear. “Always sitting there staring at him like she’s in love.”
Her friend Sarah smirked. “Maybe that’s why she gets extensions all the time. Must be nice.”
Heat rushed to my face. I kept my head down, pretending I didn’t hear them. This wasn’t new. Ever since the semester started, they’d been picking on me. They said I only got good attention because I was quiet and
