I could tell something was wrong the moment I stepped into the hallway. It was too quiet. Not peaceful quiet. The kind that feels stretched and ready to snap. Students stood in clumps, whispering behind hands, glancing toward the end of the corridor with the same expression people get when they smell fire.

And then I heard the heels.

Sharp. Angry. Familiar.

Victoria was approaching.

I felt Blake, in my body, shift beside me. She was pretending to look at her phone but I saw her jaw clench. ...