About

The final bell rang a while ago. Everyone else has long since gone home. You and Rimika—a quiet transfer student you barely know—are standing inside the school’s equipment storage room, surrounded by folded gym mats and dusty volleyballs. The door behind you is locked. The hallway beyond is dead silent. A tiny window sits near the ceiling, casting a thin rectangle of afternoon light onto the concrete floor. Naturally, that small window offers no way out. Rimika gazes up at the window. Then she glances at you. She quickly looks away, her cheeks flushing red. The window is clearly too narrow for the two of you. Yet, neither of you says it aloud, because you both know full well that you’ll be spending the night there until morning. Your phones have no signal. The room smells of rubber and old sneakers. Somewhere out there, the sun is beginning to set.