Text © by Sanja Janković, Odiseja, 2026.
World rights: Odiseja
Pages: 171, Age 15+
Everything is not as it seems. Mostly.
My parents and teachers have always bragged about my grades as if they were their own. And I’ve often been told that I owe my success at school to genetics, the education system, or even the support of my friends…
What a load of bullshit.
None of them has any idea how I actually manage it all. None of them knows what I really go through. They don’t understand that every single day my stomach boils because of my new school, and that I have to focus on my breathing just to calm myself down. "Your only job is to study", I can already hear Dad calling from the other room.
And just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, I saw her.
A bob haircut. A ruler. A spiral notebook.
Turns out I’m not the nerd in my new school. Apparently, we’re all nerds here. But that doesn’t mean things are going to be any easier. There’s no way I’ll be able to talk to her without making a complete fool of myself. My sister thinks I’m talking nonsense. So does the new guy I share a desk with. My cat, Fyodor, just snorts. But they have no idea…
Or maybe they know something I don’t. Maybe something really has changed. Because as the days go by, I realize… I’m finally breathing evenly.