Noah

The hallway was loud as usual — lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum, and the steady hum of a hundred overlapping conversations. It was the usual pre-class chaos, but for once, I wasn’t part of it.

I leaned against my locker, arms crossed, keeping to myself while the rest of the guys crowded around Jackson like they were hyping up for a big game. Daniel, of course, was in the center of it all, holding court like he was king of the freaking world.

“Man, I’m ...