The hallway light felt like a physical blow, illuminating every bruise and every tear in my clothes. Mrs. Holloway stood there, the flashlight in her hand trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the sheer, concentrated disgust radiating off her. She looked at the shredded fabric in my hands, then at the flushed, raw state of my skin, her mouth curled as if she were looking at something rotting on the pavement.
She opened her mouth, her chest heaving as she prepared to deliver a lecture that would likely end in my ruin.
"I have no time for this s**t," I snapped, my voice a jagged, low blade that cut her off before she could utter a single syllable.
I didn't wait for her reaction, not that I even cared if she ran to the boards or called the police. I turned my back on her and stepped
