I wasn’t trying to listen.
That’s the thing. I really wasn’t.
The hallway was crowded like always; students moving in clusters, voices overlapping, lockers slamming shut. Normal noise. Background noise. The kind you tune out without thinking.
I was halfway down the corridor when I caught it.
“…that girl.”
I slowed down without meaning to.
Two girls stood near the water fountain, backpacks slung low, heads bent together like they were sharing a secret. One of them glanced around before lowering her voice even more.
“She already snapped at someone in chem.”
The other snorted. “Figures. She looks like that.”
“Yeah. Like she knows she can get away with it.”
I kept walking. Or tried to. My feet moved, but my attention didn’t.
“Did you hear what she said to that cheer girl?”
“No, but
