SOFIA POV
I take residence at the back of the auditorium, as the other seats start to fill up. I sigh as Javier sits beside me.
"What's up?" he asks and I cringe. I've never been good at small talk. Or any other unnecessary social interaction.
"There's plenty of other seats."
"Yeah, but I want to sit with you."
I give him a confused loom. Nobody ever wants to sit with me.
"Ok..."
I glance straight ahead to end the conversation, and see Isabela turn around and stare at us. I am just able to make out what they are saying. Looking at the floor, I avoid eye contact.
"Hey, the freaks no idiot." she grins, which makes Natalia and Maria turn to look at us as well. Natalia rolls her eyes, applying some shiny lip gloss to her bottom lip, scoffing.
"Come on. You think he'd be interested in her?"
"Of course not." Isabela replies.
"It would still be nice, since she's always by herself." Maria says quietly, and in that moment I am baffled at how she and Natalia were part of the same egg. Maybe it's nurture instead of nature after all.
Isabela and Natalia give her disapproving looks, but Javier speaks over what they say next.
"Whats the name of the coach in P.E.?"
"Its Guero."
"Guero?"
"Mhm."
"Tell me why he let's you read in class, instead of running." he chuckles, a I give him a small smile.
"Because I found his dog a while back. Well, I actually found his ex, who had stolen his dog."
Drawing my attention, Gerry stands, complaining about no free seats. He goes over to an already seated boy and makes him move.
Quintanilla's voice echoes through the microphone.
"Gerardo. Gerardo, are you done?"
"Looking for a seat, that's all."
"Sit down, please."
I watch as Gerry sits down, fidgeting, slipping his phone out of his pocket and looking at the bright screen.
"Okay. Very well. Welcome to all you juniors. There was a time, not too long ago..." the squeaky hinges of the door swings open and everyone looks at the latecomer.
It's Luis, clutching his papers. Where is his bag? I glare at a snickering Gerry, who is no doubt the reason.
"Luis? Luis! Hurry up, please. Come on. Look there's and empty seat right at the front."
I hate Quintanilla even more in that moment.
Does he not understand? Idiot.
Wolf whistles erupt through the auditorium as people eye the cuts and bruises on Luis's cheek. The poor boy hurries to get out of the limelight towards the free seat.
Scanning the sea of people, I spot the back of Raul's head a few rows in front of us, and he is no doubt clenching his jaw.
"Quiet down! Quiet down. As I was saying, you may not believe it, but, well, for a time, up until recently, all of us humans were able to live without this."
He holds up a cellphone, which even from this distance it is obviously fake. The dim light shines off of his red glasses, making them look even more stupid than usual.
Raul rolls his head in annoyance, embodying the exact emotion of everyone here.
"Maybe life was better. Maybe life was worse. I don't know. But here's the truth. At least we weren't slaves to these things."
To everyone's astonishment, he flicks the phone and I creates a loud bang as it flops on the floor, causing the microphone to squeal. The room is silent, nobody knowing what to do.
Quintanilla smiles, as if it's an inside joke.
"It's not real."
The only person who laughs is Susana, Guero's wife, and also vice principal. She is sat between her husband and Gabriella, and they both give her weird looks.
"Is it necessary? Yes. But it is not essential."
Gerry's phone chimes, gaining his attention, but Quintanilla continues.
"We need to use them in moderation. And that's why our friends from the A.V. Club have created this video, which is called The Responsible Use of Cellphones."
The irony in them making a video is inexplicable, but I contain my laughter.
"So please pay close attention. Because helping you grow is in the spirit of the National School. So, as I said, pay attention. Bruno?"
He turns to the I.T guy Bruno, who is, more ironically, disinterested and tapping away on his phone.
"Bruno!" Quintanilla calls, grabbing Bruno's attention. "Could you hit play, please? Thank you."
Sighing, I rest my elbow on the chair and close my eyes. This is going to be boring as hell.
My eyes fly open as a deep mechanical voice erupts from the speakers, taking everyone by surprise.
"WHO IS ISABELA DE LA FUENTE?"
I straighten up in my seat, my boredom instantly gone.
The words on the screen is replaced by one of Isabela's Instagram selfies.
Wolf whistles echo through the room.
"B-Bruno, I don't think this is it!" Quintanilla stutters.
It changes to a mirror selfie of her in a tight dark pink dress and a boy yells from the crowd,
"Wow, what an ass!"
The picture shifts to a more skin-revealing white dress, and Pablo chuckled nervously.
"Hey, come on, guys. Come on, you animals!" as the wolf whistles grow louder.
Quintanilla jumps from his seat and begs Bruno to take it off the screen.
After Bruno's failed attempts, it is found after unplugging the computer that the video is coming from a different source.
The video glitches, which it plays a video of a young boy at a birthday party, blowing out the candles.
I watch intently as the video compares pictures of the boy to Isabela, and the photos are strikingly similar.
Holy crap.
People gasp as they realise what is going on.
The picture changes to a birth certificate, and the gender reads: MALE.
GENDER REASSIGNMENT: NOW FEMALE
Her ID name changes from Ismael to Isabela.
"Man, she's a fucking guy!" Ernesto exclaims. People whisper to each other all around me.
The only person who isn't paying attention is Gerry, who seemingly doesn't look surprised.
"Show us your balls!" a boy shouts at Isabela.
The video goes back to the birthday scene, and over the intimidating singsong music, his birthday wish can be heard.
"I wish I was a girl."
As the clip comes to an end, the username @_allyoursecrets_ appears on the screen, along with the profile picture which a drawing, depicting a man will binoculars with his mouth open, the colours red and blue splashed over it.
As if in synchronisation, people whip out their phones to search up the username.
"Hey! Turn on the lights!" Quintanilla yells. Isabela races in embarrassment through the isle between the seats, and disappears out of the door, closely followed by Natalia and Maria.
Gerry tries to grab her attention but fails.
"Isabela! Isabela! Talk to her, Susana. Please talk to her." Quintanilla shouts. The room is filled with laughter, jokes and cellphones chiming.
One of the only people that don't immediately flee from their seats is Luis.
I am left, confused and paralyzed.
What just happened?
More importantly,
Who is _allyoursecrets_?