ara got to Room 12B

e down, arrange her things just right, and calm her ra

eat in the back row,

ff the cap of her pen, and glan

too hard. She remembered the moment it happened, the splash of water fr

d to a bl

voice, precise and cutting. She would not think about feeling trapped in a

napkin a boy had quietly placed on the

oor o

ng on his phone. Two other boys she did

n with someone in the hall, nodding seriously. As he ent

ok a

catching the leg of Elara's desk

ll not looking back.

d on the bac

She hadn't noticed it before. It was just abo

her gaze to

hings, she told

ay of taking attendance, apparently. She pointed at random stude

Significant figures, molar m

aned, stumble

rs. Victor

oom t

ght of all those eyes on her, some curious, some hoping s

and. She couldn't speak. Instead, she wrote the

t equilibrium is disturbed, it shifts in

ctoria

nd what is

e again. H

aber process shifts equilibr

silence

a said, "Excellen

slowly tu

. Her handwriting on the new page was slightly larger

e of paper appeared. It slid back across the

ooked

d at the back o

cused on

paper and unfolded

all year. Victoria usually h

then looked at the b

ked up

a basic

e paper and s

ssed. Then

lass still had their fin

pressing her lips t

tud

ent i

ame

lse are you doing

ing in her chest, not a bad feeling, which was odd b

e one mo

viv

nt it

t away. There was a pause. Then Julian sh

wo

a

at word longer tha

and tucked it into th

throw it away l

incident happ

, she always tracked the minutes until she could go home, a hab

st the adjacent locker with both arms crossed. "Very impr

her other side, com

er afternoon textbo

hie said with delight. "

ara's bag. "We're being rude, Sophie. We should introduce ours

bag. She turned to look at Mi

arly expecting so

id, but it came out mean. "It's

o of the

hed as they

t shoulder from Mila's grip on the bag strap at a weird angle. She thought about Chloe's voic

ason she could explain, abo

a

ker and headed to

throw the

library at 3:40 when he

n, as if it had been dropped. He almost left it there, it wa

ned it

ed, and he sto

left page was about physics, quantum mechanics, the kind not on the senior syllabus, written in small, clean

d a s

facing a window, and the light shining through the window was drawn in careful, deliberat

in the corridor, holding someone

d the ins

Van

ed it c

and down the c

esk. He considered slipping it under the c

see Elara at the end of the corridor. Her eyes were already on

es across the

ld the no

," he said. "Thought i

tebook from his hands and hugged it to her chest. For a brief momen

it va

ed out h

nk

ead it a

stop himself. "Page forty-three. You're

oked a

t her

final on a stress fracture once because I didn't want to le

if trying to find a t

't one. He

ty

shou

. I'm s

g moment. Then she typed ag

u keep sh

pened hi

, Chloe's voice rang o

ou'd be in the library. We're all g

d when she

followed felt like the loudest sil

against Elara's chest, then to Julian stand

mething?" Chloe asked

said,

ack, then another, and walked down th

atched h

e appeared at his side, threading her arm t

the corridor wher

"she's someone who's had to be

e'd said something sw

id, pulling at hi

her pull

t before she turned the co

eyes

or a s

he was

oe's hand on his arm and one thought qu

u keep sh

have an an

d him more t