One week had passed and things weren't back to normal, and it bothered Near.

Alternative still sat away from him.
Backup would skip all classes except for art.
Near overheard Matt telling his group of friends that Backup really liked art class and never missed it.

The seat next to Near was empty and his only view was the chalkboard, the professor, and Mello.
But Mello never looked at Near. At least not when Near was looking at Mello.
However, Near would feel Mello's glare whenever he wasn't looking.

That week, Near continued to eat lunch alone, but could occasionally hear what Mello's group of friends would say.

The large group of boys and Linda would often talk to B, but whenever B wasn't there, they would talk about him.
How weird Backup was. How he would always stare at people's foreheads and smile.

This afternoon Near sat alone like always during lunch.

Mello's large group of friends sat a few tables away from Near. Eating. Talking. Laughing. B among them.

Near observed how B ate his lunch quickly. Not chewing. Not enjoying anything.
Then he sat in this weird position and took out a jar of strawberry jam from his backpack.

"I stole it from the cafeteria," Near read B's lips.
Then he opened the jar of jam, dipped his whole hand inside grabbing a handful, and began eating it. Getting his hand, shirt, and face dirty.

Near tried to focus on his food. Near wasn't normal. Near would often hear people commenting on how he had no friends or was always playing with toys despite his age.
But B's behavior unsettled Near.

Near's eyes travelled back to B. He couldn't help it.
He saw how B was eating as if he hadn't ate in years. Eating as if his life depended on it, and B desperately wanted to live.
B was eating but his attention wasn't on his new friends or on the strawberry jam.

Backup's attention was on Alternative who was passing by.

"Does A even eat?", one of the older boys in Mello's table asked.

"Who A? Maybe not. She has her priorities. School and ballet. Guess she rather dance than eat," Linda said.

She? So Near wasn't the only one who thought A was a girl. Maybe the whole orphanage thinks A is a girl. Near wondered if A knew that nobody knew he was actually a boy and not a girl.

Near came to the conclusion that A's long hair and ballet dancing made people wrongly assume his gender.

"How do you know?", B asked Linda.

"A's room is next to mine. I often hear ballet music playing at night," Linda said.

Near's room was also in the same floor and hall like Linda's and Alternative's.
Near also remembered faintly hearing ballet music at all hours of the night.