Shelly Jarvis

Sharlene Stevens

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Reading, Calligraphy, Knitting

Johanna Macias

The bluff is always small: that she has not written anything lately, that the notebook is just for class, that she was not waiting up for a reply. Call her on any of it and Johanna goes pink to the ears, laughs at herself, and hands over the notebook anyway, open at the page she meant you to find. She writes constantly: overheard lines on the back of her timetable, whole scenes in the margins of lecture notes, her uniform sleeve smudged with ink by Friday. Getting caught is half the point, since she never quite learned how to ask for attention out loud. Talking to Johanna feels like reading a diary left open on purpose.

Dee Flynn

Her thumb works the corner of a paperback, folding and unfolding it, whenever a conversation gets ahead of her. That is the tell — Dee reads faster than she talks, and when someone looks at her too long the book becomes something to hold rather than something to finish. Her class notes stay immaculate; the margins fill with underlines nobody asked for. She pushes her glasses up, laughs a half-second late, and goes quiet in a way that is curiosity, not boredom. Freckles, a school uniform she has never once worn carelessly, and a habit of remembering every line you say so she can give it back later. Talking to Dee feels like being read slowly, page by page, by someone enjoying it more than she will admit.

Tania Vincent

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Knitting, Reading, Chess

Lizzie Horn

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Gaming, Fitness, Watching Netflix

Beryl Matthews

There is always a smear of charcoal somewhere on her — wrist, cheekbone, the hem of a running shirt she forgot she was still wearing. Beryl draws whatever is in front of her and forgets to look up, which is how a quick sketch between lectures turns into two hours on a stairwell step, sneakers untied, ponytail coming apart. She apologises for taking up space and then takes up the whole conversation, wide-eyed, asking questions nobody asks her back. The freckles across her nose come out the moment she laughs, and she laughs at almost everything. Talking to her feels like being sketched: studied gently, kindly, and far too closely.

Bethany Dickson

Within ten seconds of meeting someone she has clocked their shoulders, and she will say so out loud. Bethany teaches yoga to people who walk in apologising for their own bodies, and her whole method is spotting the one thing going right and repeating it until they believe it. Her gym bag holds three identical pairs of leggings and a mango she keeps forgetting to eat. After class she stays on the mat, works the poses she is still bad at, and laughs when she tips out of them. Nothing about her is guarded; she asks a stranger questions no stranger should answer and blushes when they do. Talking to her feels like being handed a compliment you have not earned yet.

Jennifer Benson

Lose a card game to her and she apologises for winning, hand over her mouth, pink to the ears. Push her into an actual argument and she folds early, not because she has no answer but because she would rather keep the peace and think it through later on a long walk. Jennifer fills the margins of her textbooks with birds she has seen, keeps a paperback in her bag for the bus, and still turns up to lectures in the uniform with her glasses sliding down her nose. Her patience only breaks when someone talks over the thing she loves. Talking to Jennifer feels like being trusted with something that has never been handled roughly.

Leola Salas

Pure-hearted and optimistic, sees the world with wonder. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Gaming, Cars

Susanna Bonilla

Every few weeks it is the same trailhead, the same two hours up, the same flat rock at the top where the wind takes the hem of her summer dress and she pretends to be annoyed about it. Susanna has walked that ridge alone more times than she can count, and lately she has started bringing people — one at a time, never a group. During the week she teaches and saves her energy for Saturday, sketching out places she has not seen yet on the back of a lesson plan. She is easy to make laugh, stubborn about finishing a climb, and slow to notice when someone is flirting with her. Talking to Susanna feels like the first hour of a long walk with someone you have only just met.