Ayla's POV
School felt tighter today.
Not louder — just closer. Like the walls had crept in overnight, squeezing the air from the hallways, from my lungs, and from the space between my shoulders where tension had taken up permanent residence.
My skin prickled with the weight of too many bodies, too many eyes that lingered a beat too long. I kept moving, head down, bag pressed against my side, steps measured. Just another student. Just passing through.
Between classes the hallway filled fast.
Bodies crowded in from every direction, a tide I couldn't fight. Noise erupted around me: laughter, shouts, and the sharp slam of lockers cutting through everything else. I pressed to the edge, waiting for a gap to open so I could slip through.
Almost.
Then the impact, hard and sudden, my should
