Mondays at Westbridge High were always the same.

  The hallways buzzed with tired voices, lockers slammed shut every few seconds, and the smell of cafeteria pancakes drifted through the building. Students shuffled from one class to another like they were all moving on autopilot.

  Maya adjusted the strap of her backpack and stepped through the front doors just as the first bell rang.

  “Great,” she muttered under her breath.

  She walked quickly down the main hallway, weaving through clusters of students talking about homework, basketball practice, and the upcoming science test everyone seemed to be stressing about. A group of freshmen stood near the lockers laughing loudly at something on someone’s phone.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  It felt like every other school day.

  Maya stopped at her locker and spun the dial, already thinking about the math assignment she hadn’t finished the night before. The locker creaked open, revealing a pile of notebooks that looked far messier than she remembered leaving them.

  “Morning, Maya.”

  She looked up to see her friend Liam leaning against the locker next to hers, holding a half-finished juice box.

  “You look like you didn’t sleep,” he said.

  “I didn’t,” Maya replied, pulling out her history book. “Math homework.”

  “Same,” Liam groaned. “Mr. Patel thinks we have nothing else to do.”

  They both laughed quietly as more students rushed past them toward their classrooms.

  From the end of the hallway, a teacher called out for everyone to hurry before the second bell rang.

  Maya closed her locker and glanced down the corridor. The long row of lockers stretched almost to the stairwell, each one painted the same dull blue the school had used for years.

  Nothing unusual.

  Just another ordinary Monday at Westbridge High.

  Or at least, that’s what it seemed like.