On a whim, you stand up.

  Heads around the room swivel towards you, but you ignore them, swiping up your notebooks in one hand and your backpack in the other. With a determined stride, you walk to the classroom door and push it fully open. You expect some rebuke - a hand on your shoulder, or your name shouted in the tone that adults use when they can’t believe you would dare break the rules so blatantly. Nothing comes. Just a shift in topic from mitochondria to lysosomes. You smile broadly in disbelief, but step right through the door, letting it thud shut behind you.

  The hallways are silent, the walls seeming to echo with phantom noises that you know only exist in your head. This might be the first time you’ve seen any of this space so empty for more than a couple seconds.

  You begin to stroll, wondering what possessed you to suddenly be so impulsive. Not that you aren’t grateful - this is a wonderfully freeing feeling, but you’ve never done something like this before.

  You glance out a window to your left, seeing the very same Wyrr Duplae you bumped into before first period, sitting on the ground under one of the large schoolyard tree canopies. He’s reading a book you haven’t seen before, and your curiosity is piqued.

  At the same time, two echoing screams sound from a classroom behind you. You don’t recognize the voices, but they sound truly and deeply panicked.

To run back to find the source of the screams, turn to Page 6
To leave the building and find Wyrr, turn to Page 20
To flee the scene, turn to Page 14