The hallway was nearly empty, quiet in the way that only came when school was winding down and everyone had either bolted for the exits or lingered in classrooms pretending to care about clubs they didn’t even like. My shoes scuffed the floor with every tired step, the fluorescent lights above buzzing softly, casting this cold, washed-out glow over the lockers and cracked tiles.
Where the hell was Tanny?
I’d been texting her for the past twenty minutes, hoping we could walk out together, maybe grab coffee or just sit in her car and avoid the world for a while. But she hadn’t replied. Radio silence. Totally unlike her.
My eyes swept over the nearly deserted hallway, and for a moment I thought maybe she’d already left without me. That stung more than I wanted to admit. I wrapped my arms a
