>>67832490>I flick up a bit to see if I've missed any texts. Nope, first one since before prom. I deflate a bit. Guess he was a bit rowdy last night but nothing he needed to apologize for. I start to text back but that little coal in my stomach seems...urgent. I can just talk to him in person.>I go ahead and step forward, the school now in sight. The silhouette lit against the misty sky is something to note. Something I'd rather not note, honestly.>I march up the stairs to... a crowd?>A murmuring group of students are loosely surrounding the front door.>I'm given many strange glances and pointed whispers. The hell is their probl->A noise I recognize. A noise I'd hoped to never, ever hear. It shakes me. Makes my heart stop. Makes me wish I never heard it.>A pop. Distinct and loud. Clapping from far away. No.>I drop my bag. No. No please.>Another one.>Anon. Anon please.>I crash through the door. There's a silence. Unnatural. The kind you only hear when it's a silence necessary for survival.>I don't stop for even a second. I rush up the stairs, my wings picking me up several steps at a time as I do so.>It hits you like a wall. I know the smell. It's not a smell you need to learn.>Damp, warm smell. Iron and murky.>It runs down the stairs. >I choke back a retch. I force myself forward. >Bodies. I can barely even look. Just the lightest touch of my eyes sears them like I've been staring at the sun. I find myself marching forward. A color I recognize is in my peripheral.>Orange.>I lock my head forward. I don't want to see. I don't want to know. Yet I have to.>It's only for a moment but that moment will never leave me.>Naomi is strewn on the floor, the inside of her head spilling across a desk and the linoleum. >I vomit. I trudge a few feet forward as it strikes me, letting it out against a locker wall. I can't move my gaze. I watch helplessly as it touches the dull maroon spots. It rises another heave from me.cont. this is getting awful quick