POV: Samira James
The difference was immediate.
Finals week had moved with a very specific kind of precision. There were quiet halls, focused classrooms, and voices that remained strictly controlled. It was a week of order and mental discipline.
Homeroom on Monday morning was the exact opposite of that silence.
The moment I stepped inside the room, the noise hit me from every single direction. Chairs scraped loudly across the tile floor, bags were dropped carelessly onto desks, and voices overlapped without a single pause for breath. Someone was laughing entirely too loudly near the windows. Another group was arguing about a specific question near the back of the room. The air felt lighter than it had on Friday, but it also felt much messier.
Amanda slipped in behind me, already weari
