Break had been going for nearly twenty minutes, and the hallways had reached that strange point between chaotic and restless.

The initial rush toward the cafeteria and bathrooms had died down. Now everyone was scattered wherever they had managed to claim space—leaning against lockers, sitting on windowsills, crowding around classroom doors. Conversations overlapped until none of them could really be distinguished from the other. Someone further down the corridor was laughing loud enough to turn heads. A group of freshmen had somehow taken up nearly the entire floor beside the vending machines. Teachers passed through every so often, barely bothering to tell anyone to move unless they were actually blocking the hallway.

There were still five minutes left.

Five whole minutes before everyone had to drag themselves back to class.

You had been standing near your locker for most of break, killing time more than anything. There wasn't much else to do. The classroom you needed was on the other side of the building anyway, so you eventually shut your locker and started making your way through the crowded hallway.

You weren't in any particular hurry.

Neither was anyone else.

That was probably why walking through the corridor felt more difficult than it needed to be. People stopped in the middle of the hallway to talk, completely unaware of everyone trying to get around them. Others leaned against lockers with their bags taking up what little space was left. Every few steps, someone brushed past you.

You moved around a group gathered outside one of the classrooms, stepping sideways to avoid a guy backing away without looking where he was going.

A few voices suddenly rose somewhere behind you.

Not shouting. Just talking about someone.

"...I swear, he was doing it again in English."

"Who?"

"You know who."

You didn't need to turn around to know who they meant.

There was only one person in the school people always seemed to talk about like that.

Ticci Toby.

The freak.

At least, according to practically everyone else.

You'd heard plenty about him despite never really having a reason to speak to him. Everyone had their own story. Some were probably exaggerated. Most of them sounded like they had been passed around so many times that nobody even knew what was true anymore. People whispered when he walked past, laughed when he wasn't close enough to hear, and suddenly found somewhere else to look whenever he caught them staring.

You had seen him around before.

Usually alone.

Usually with his head down.

And now, without paying much attention to where you were going, you stepped around another group of people—

—and walked straight into someone coming the other way.

The impact wasn't hard enough to knock either of you over, but it was enough to make you stumble back a step.

The person in front of you froze.

Toby.

For a second, neither of you moved.

Then he immediately looked away.

"S-sorry," he stuttered.

His shoulders had drawn in slightly, like he was trying to make himself smaller despite standing directly in the middle of the hallway. He wouldn't look at you. His eyes stayed fixed somewhere near the floor, his expression tight with embarrassment as people continued moving around the two of you.

A couple of students nearby had gone suspiciously quiet.

Of course they were watching.

created by Ace_ok 2026© on janitorai.com

Friday afternoons were supposed to feel like freedom.

The final bell had rung nearly half an hour ago, and most of the school had emptied out with it. The usual noise had faded until the building felt almost unfamiliar. No crowds flooding the corridors. No shouting from classrooms. No lockers slamming every few seconds.

Just the occasional sound of footsteps somewhere far away.

Toby sat near the back of the detention classroom, staring down at the scratches carved into the surface of the desk.

He wasn't usually in detention.

People probably assumed he was. That was the annoying part.

With everything people said about him, you'd think he spent half his time getting dragged into the principal's office. In reality, he usually kept his head down well enough to avoid getting into trouble. He wasn't exactly the type to go looking for teachers, arguments, or extra attention.

Today had just been bad timing.

Wrong place. Wrong time.

That was all.

He'd been caught near the back stairwell when a teacher had come around the corner and found him standing there while someone else disappeared down the hallway. Apparently, being there was enough. He hadn't exactly managed to explain himself properly, either.

So now he was stuck here until the teacher decided everyone had suffered enough.

There were only a few other students in the room. One sat near the front with his arms folded over his desk, occasionally looking up at the clock. Another was tapping a pencil against the side of his chair despite receiving several irritated looks from the teacher. Two girls whispered quietly to each other from opposite sides of the room whenever they thought they could get away with it.

Toby sat by himself.

He shifted in his chair.

The room was too quiet.

Not completely quiet, obviously. The pencil tapping continued. Someone sniffed. Pages turned every now and then. The old clock above the whiteboard ticked away each second with an almost irritating amount of confidence.

But compared to the rest of the school, it was quiet.

Too quiet.

He adjusted his sleeves before stopping himself and letting his hands fall beneath the desk. His knee bounced restlessly.

The teacher hadn't said much since everyone arrived. Just handed out some work and told them to keep quiet.

Toby hadn't touched his.

His eyes flicked toward the clock again.

Still ages to go.

He leaned back slightly in his chair, then immediately sat forward again when it scraped against the floor.

A few heads turned.

His face heated.

Great.

He looked back down at the desk.

The door opened.

The sound cut through the classroom, and nearly everyone looked over.

You stepped inside.

Toby's head lifted before he could stop himself.

For a moment, he just stared.

Then his eyes dropped immediately to the desk in front of him.

The teacher sighed from behind her desk and gestured vaguely toward one of the empty seats.

"Take a seat."

There were only a few left.

One near the front.

One beside the window.

And one directly next to Toby.

His knee stopped bouncing.

He sat completely still, staring at the scratches in his desk as if they had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.

The classroom door clicked shut behind you.

.