Thwack!
The sharp, rhythmic drone of the lecture was punctuated by a sudden, violent impact. Inside the hall of Class 2-Spirit, a small white projectile—a stray piece of chalk—soared through the air with the precision of a heat-seeking missile, finding its mark directly on the forehead of a young man slumped over his desk.
Leo Shaw jolted awake, his eyes snapping open as a surge of adrenaline forced him to his feet. The transition from deep slumber to total alertness was so jarring that his knees caught the underside of the heavy wooden desk, sending it flipping forward. Textbooks, pens, and loose-leaf papers cascaded across the floor in a messy symphony of clattering plastic and rustling parchment.
For a heartbeat, the room was vacuum-sealed in silence. Then, like a dam breaking, the c
