The first day of my worst week begins like all the others.
*Zzz* *zzz* *zzz*
my phone buzzes, and I smother my ears, half-hoping to oversleep. But the alarm’s harshness burrows through my pillow and grates against my brain.
*Zzz* *zzz-*
[https://i.imgur.com/gE4TmNR.png]
[Yuri]: Mmph. Okay,I got it.
I open my eyes and slide the alarm’s bar, my phone’s screen-light forcing me awake. Then I brush my teeth, do my hair, splash makeup that fails to conceal the circles under my eyes, eat jam on toast, grab my satchel and (“it’s already 8!”) run off to school.
Atlas High School is the kind of elite school that you don’t want to be late to, but I’m the kind of person who’s always late. The unstoppable force of seven highly paid administrators against the immovable object of a sleep-deprived me; it’s a struggle that could be decided by the weight of a feather.
Or the weight of the waif by the school gate.
[https://i.imgur.com/ohf9fGt.png]
[Lily]: Sorry Yuri, I have to write you up. Rules are rules.
A short girl in twintails taps her foot, obstructing the arched entrance. Her uniform is the same as mine, just flat, ironed, and clean. She’s angry, but more than that, she’s overwhelmingly cute! I talk back at her, mimicking her lightly.
[Yuri]: ‘I’ll have to write you up!’
[Yuri]: That’s what you said last time! But you didn’t, right?
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
[Yuri]: So just let this one go too. Pretty please…!
I give her my best puppy-dog plea.
[Lily]: It’s exactly because I said that last time that I really have to write you up today! Geez…
[Lily]: If you can’t even get to school on time now, what will become of you in the future?
[Yuri]: I’ll get a permanent record, drop out and become a delinquent. And it’ll all be your fault for marking me late.
I step forward, searching for an opening, but she just crosses her arms. I lean left, and Lily leans left. I lean right and she tilts right, her face keeping that same disapproving look.
[Lily]: Why are you saying you want to be a delinquent to someone on the school disciplinary committee? Are you asking to be punished?
[Yuri]: Maybe. Who’s doing the punishing?
Have you ever seen a tea kettle heat so fast that it whistles and turns red? If you haven’t, then Lily’s doing a great impression right now.
[Lily]: Yuri!!!!!!!
I slip past her through the gate; easy to handle as always. Though I hear her call out behind me.
[Lily]: I haven’t forgotten to write you up!
Oops.
But that report isn’t the reason for the worst week of my life. Yes, I’m late for class, and the teacher might stare daggers when I enter, but detention will always be a problem for future me. I hum; seeing Lily puts me in a rare good mood.
I walk past the clubrooms, up the stairs, and into Classroom 3-E.
The desks are arranged in tidy rows, and colorful posters hang on the walls. The Periodic Table, the Water Cycle, how to take derivatives. One teacher taught us all these things, or tried to, on a normal day.
So what is this terrible feeling that grabs me as soon as I open the door? There’s absolutely ‘nothing’ abnormal about the classroom as it is now. But a split second later, I realize what’s odd about the classroom isn’t what's there but what's missing.
All the students are gone.
[Yuri] Was today a field trip?
I walk to the front of the room. Someone, in EXPO marker, had drawn a strange curved emblem.
[https://keep.google.com/u/1/media/v2/112tPfIRoZXCHZVncvtwAH-d3sVzm6PUMDKvZENY-nihF-Uw6dtWJ0kqObhOESf0/1ZuP2fJSFzEBRUhXVVpajMOEHsrH3-L1LYkblxqXI-k7THRX9WalHwzctwm8qcQ?sz=512&accept=image%2Fgif%2Cimage%2Fjpeg%2Cimage%2Fjpg%2Cimage%2Fpng%2Cimage%2Fwebp][https://i.imgur.com/oK4jCXp.png]
[Yuri]: It’s moving.
The snake tightens and swirls as if it were a noose. Then it begins to shake - or, no, it’s my own body that’s trembling.
My legs give way, and everything fades to the same sterile shade as the whiteboard.