ARIA
“I’ll leave you to it,” Principal Lockhart said, her polished heels clicking toward the door. “Enjoy your class of discovering possibilities.”
Her voice carried that confident, administrative tone that filled every corner of the room — polished, distant, practiced. It was the kind of voice that commanded attention without trying, like she’d said those same words a hundred times before.
When the door closed behind her, the echo of her heels lingered for a moment before fading into silence. The stillness that followed felt heavy, as though she’d taken with her the last trace of warmth from the air.
Discovering possibilities.
The phrase floated above us like a promise wrapped in warning. It didn’t sound like a beginning. It sounded like the start of something we weren’t ready for.
