Mackenzie Walsh had a majestically difficult fresh start. First, because she was in front of the school of her dreams and yet, she didn't feel happy or fulfilled because, until then, her mother was supposed to accompany her that day, just as they had always dreamed. Classes started promptly on September 3rd, as stated in the booklet the students had received by mail the previous month.

Things were already set. In December, she and her mother had everything well prepared: first, they took the train to the Capital, where Mackenzie would take the admission test for Maple Ridge, the best school network in the country. It was her dream to study there, and her mother had saved a lot so that she could at least study there for a year, in that expensive school. Mackenzie even studied for the test, something she had never done in her life, because she only needed to read or hear something once for it to stick in her memory. Also, with an IQ of 228, it was no wonder the girl was so certain that she would ace the test.

But when the letter arrived in early January, Grace Walsh, Mackenzie's mother, had already had an accident. Mackenzie opened the letter while still in the hospital bed and cried in the arms of her best friend when she read a handwritten letter from the school's director, stating that he was impressed with her performance and that no one had ever scored more than 80% on the test.

Mackenzie aced the test.

The man congratulated her, stating that he was honored to offer her a scholarship for the four years of high school, as well as a spot at Maple Ridge University if her performance remained perfect.

She didn't have much to celebrate. Mackenzie moved from the countryside and finished school in the Capital, managing to get back on her feet with the help of her mother's best friend, Emma O'Reilly, and her son, practically a brother to her, Callum. Emma owned a famous café in the school area, whose profit was so great in its first year that she managed to open three more cafés in the city, giving her the opportunity to enroll her son at Maple Ridge when he was still in middle school.

Although Mackenzie had already gotten used to her new life, none of her mantras and thoughts prepared her for the first day of school because, for some reason, she had been stuck for ten minutes at the school gate, where a sea of students in red blazers was intense. She knew which class she was in: Class A. Class A of the first year, the class where only the most intelligent students were placed. The problem was that the school was gigantic, and she needed to find her teacher. Callum promised to help her, but as soon as he arrived at the school, his friends appeared and took him away.

"Callum!"

"Sorry, Mack! But you'll find him! He's tall and has a scar on his neck!"

Mack stared at her friend, open-mouthed, who disappeared into the crowd in a matter of seconds. Okay, she knew this would end up happening one way or another, and she would end up alone in the end. And that was okay. Well, she could handle herself alone. She just didn't want to. Mackenzie stared fixedly at the paper where she had written his name in case she forgot it at some point.

"Bentley Pearce," she read the man's name on the paper, taking a deep breath and thinking to herself, "What did he do to get a scar on his neck?"

Mackenzie looked around, she didn't even know where to start searching yet. The school was huge, starting with that gigantic iron gate with the crest carved high above, along with the school motto: per aspera ad astra." Through Difficulties, to the Stars. Mackenzie remembered thinking that it was a very empty motto, but it seemed fancy because it was in Latin. She began to pay close attention to things, and soon she was able to distinguish the freshmen from the upperclassmen by the way they were acting, but she also knew that many of the freshmen came from Maple Ridge Middle School and obviously already knew each other. Yeah, maybe studying there wouldn't be so easy after all. When she spotted a boy with glasses and thin, slightly pointed lips, she approached him, as he was talking to an older man, hopefully the teacher she was looking for.

"Excuse me," Mackenzie said, and the boys immediately fell silent. "Can you help me? I'm looking for a teacher. I'm new here, could you just tell me where the staff room is?"

"Who are you looking for?" the boy with glasses made a face, as if Mackenzie had said something wrong.

"Ah... Bentley Pearce. He's... the head teacher of my class," she said.

The boy with glasses frowned, and the older man, who had been silent until then, spoke up. "That's a difficult question," he said. "He's not in the classroom or the staff room. He's wandering around talking to everyone. It's going to be really hard to find him now."

"Actually, I heard he was on the football field playing with the Year 3 students," said the man. Why would a teacher be playing soccer with the students on the first day of school?

"Freshman, huh?" the older boy asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Mackenzie asked, feeling a bit embarrassed for not introducing herself earlier.

"Just a little..." he replied.

"Oh, by any chance, are you... a teacher?" she asked, feeling somewhat relieved to finally ask.

"No, I'm Morgan. His older brother," the boy pointed to the glasses-wearing boy, who smiled and waved.

"Dace."

"Ah..." she smiled and nodded. "I'm Mackenzie. Um... can you tell me where the field is?"

"You can go around there, or you can enter there and go through the building, it's faster. You go in, turn right, go down the east corridor, and then head to the second cafeteria, from there you go through the metal blue door at the back, and there you go, the football field. He has a scar on his neck, so it'll be easy to find him."

Ok, now Mackenzie was extremely curious about the scar on the professor's neck. She thanked the boy and walked away, remembering to follow his directions exactly. She looked back for a moment and noticed that the boy had already gotten up and was walking in the opposite direction, limping. Mack wondered if he was okay, but she just watched him go, blending into the crowd as well. The newcomer did as he said, went right, entered the corridor, and exited into the cafeteria. It was spacious, with numerous tables, and quite empty. Then she saw the blue door he mentioned and ran, hoping the professor would be there. She passed by a group of students, one of them completely relaxed, without a blazer like his other friends, or rather, completely casual. As she passed through the gate, she caught sight of the football field and walked towards the stands, observing the students playing lightly and casually, wondering if any of them could be the mentioned professor, but she didn't see any scars on any of them.

"Excuse me, has Professor Pearce been here?" "Bentley just passed through the cafeteria with some students, didn't you see him? You must have just missed him." "Really? Well, thank you then." "If you hurry, you might catch up to him."

Mackenzie smiled gratefully in response and ran again. She passed through the door again, crossed the cafeteria, and returned to the corridor, not knowing exactly where to go. Should she go straight, left, right? There were many students, but she just chose any path and ran, following it until the end and finally stopped to catch her breath and noticed her shoelaces were untied.

"Oh no... seriously?" She crouched down and tied them. "Thanks, Callum, for absolutely nothing. Or rather, for leaving me alone in this gigantic maze of a school. Maybe I should go back to Greenstate and continue giving private lessons to sustain myself."

Mackenzie stood up all at once. Well, isn't that what you do once you finish tying your shoes? The difference is that usually when you stand up, you don't hit your head against someone's chin. And it hit right on target. She immediately felt a sharp pain on the top of her head and brought her hands to the spot, groaning in pain.

"Why were you behind me like that, didn't you see me?"

"Oh, girl, how could I see you? Do you know how short you are? This really hurts!"

"You have to look in all directions, you idiot!" She yelled at the boy, the same casual boy she saw earlier before leaving the cafeteria towards the football field.

"Girl, is that how you talk to a teacher on the first day of school? Right after headbutting him... ah, I can taste blood."

Mackenzie widened her previously angry, now frightened, gray eyes; she took her hand off her head and covered her mouth.

"Teacher? You? I mean, sir?"

It was only then that she noticed his identification badge, a pin on his shirt, where usually students wear pins with their names on them, and she manages to read the name of the said teacher:

"Bentley Pearce..." she whispered his name as she read it. "You are Professor Bentley Pearce?"

"In the flesh. And blood," he said, feeling a lot of pain in his tongue; he was holding his head high, and Mackenzie finally noticed that scar on his neck, starting just below his left ear and crossing the front of his neck, disappearing under his blue collar. God, what had happened to that man?

"I was instructed to look for you on the first day of school," Mackenzie said, unable to take her eyes off the scar.

"And who would you be?" he asked.

"Mackenzie Walsh."

The man lowered his head slightly, feeling the pain subside just a little. He pursed his lips and sniffed quickly. Then, in an outgoing and playful manner, he crouched down and looked directly into the young woman's eyes, causing her to step back a bit.

"I was waiting for you, Mackenzie Walsh. I was eager for your arrival!" His expression completely changed, and he started to smile. "What an honor!" he exclaimed. God, was this man really a teacher?! Mackenzie made a face and backed away a little more. She didn't like overly cheerful people, and this guy was way too happy.

"Huh? Honor?" she asked.

"Of course! Who would have thought that the girl who headbutted me would be the genius girl with an IQ of 228? Did you know that your IQ is the highest in the school?"

"My IQ is the highest in the country," Mackenzie said, relaxing her arms and standing face to face with the man.

"Hmm... I see that you're also very modest," he smiled.

"Why did they send me to you, exactly?"

"Come on, Miss Impatient. Let's go to the staff room, and then we have a tour to do," he said, moving away from her and starting to walk. "You can't come to the orientation, can you?"

"No. I had something to take care of on that day," Mackenzie replied. She had to go back to Greenstate because of someone's important birthday.

"So, that's why they sent you to me. In fact, Maple Ridge has a system for integrating new students, where a senior is assigned to accompany and help them navigate the school."

"Help me navigate?"

"The school places great emphasis on a healthy school environment and prides itself on being a model school, the first in the country to implement a system that takes care of students' social lives while also addressing their mental health. Once a month, our students undergo evaluations with psychologists to ensure they are doing well or if they need deeper support."

"Wow," Mackenzie exclaimed, not very excited or impressed by it, but the man seemed genuinely excited about all of it, so she just forced a smile for him. "So, who's the lucky one who gets to be with me?"

"For some reason, it's me," he said, stopping halfway and smiling at her, pointing to the stairs. "I guess they wanted the best student in the school to be guided by the best teacher in the school."

"You?" She raised an eyebrow, sporting a smile that was nothing short of mocking.

"The lord is in heaven, here I'm just Professor Bentley. Or better yet, just call me Bentley."

Mackenzie smiled, barely believing what she had heard. Never in her life had she called a teacher by their first name. In fact, the majority of her teachers insisted on being called "teacher" or "sir."

"Mr. Bentley Pearce," Mackenzie said. "Are you sure you're a teacher? As far as I know, this is a school with strong values, yet I've noticed that the security here is extremely flawed. Mr. Pearce, I don't know who you are, but you'd better apologize before someone finds out you stole a teacher's pin, okay?"

And so, Mackenzie yanked the pin with the professor's name, causing a small tear in his shirt, turned around, and walked away, leaving the bewildered stranger astonished. She stomped her feet hard, feeling as if the ground could crack at any moment, such was her anger in that moment. She was walking so aimlessly that she bumped into a guy, quickly apologizing without realizing that he was the same guy she met earlier, and simply walked away, deciding to find the auditorium on her own since she had an important speech to deliver soon.