Katie walked down the hallway to her chemistry class thinking about the Algebra II test she just had the last hour. She ruffled through the pages of her notebook, skimming the notes as she did so.

“Hey, Katie.” Mike, one of her old friends since elementary school, walked up with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

“Hey, Mike. How’s it going?” Katie smiled and pulled her hair back behind her ear.

“Great! How was your test?”

“Well—“ She was cut off as the one-minute bell rang. “Oh shoot, I gotta go.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later, Katie.” Mike hugged her, like he always did, but this time it was a little different. It lasted a few seconds longer than normal. She breathed in and could smell something foul, making her nose scrunch in disgust. She was about to pull away when she remembered she had spaghetti for lunch. They served garlic bread as well.

Embarrassed, she tried to reach into her backpack without seeming like she was trying to get away from Mike. She had peppermints in one of the smaller pockets and she wanted to quickly eat one before Mike smelled her awful breath.

She took a slight step back, but her heel had come down on a pencil someone left on the floor. Her foot shot forward and struck Mike in the shin.

“Ow!” He grabbed his leg, losing his balance and then hitting the girl behind him.

The girl flew forward, her books sliding across the recently polished floor. They slid maybe three feet before crossing the path of a boy ‘s red converse, causing him to trip and throw his papers into the path of three unsuspecting girls. Startled, a girl with blonde hair swung her arm to the side, hitting the girl next her across the right side of her face. Her head whipped to the side from the impact and she fell towards the wall and grabbed the eight-foot long sign for support.

Katie and Mike watched with wide eyes as the sign promoting the winter dance was ripped from the wall one nail at a time. Another boy stepped on one of the nails and slid forward, running into Mrs. Michaels, the principal. She had just being coming from the bathroom when she was knocked backwards off of her feet. Her wristwatch smacked the floor and Katie winced as the glass shattered upon impact.

A janitor who had been doing some patch work on the walls stood on a ladder right behind Mrs. Michaels. She staggered backward into the ladder as she got up, causing the ladder to sway. The janitor dropped the can of paint and clung to the ladder with the paintbrush still in his hand. It swayed one, two, three times before it leaned so far to one side it couldn’t go back. “Ahhh!” The janitor swung his arms out, rubbing the paintbrush down the side of the wall. He hit the floor with a loud thud and the ladder fell into the school’s trophy case, which held the basketball championship from 1987. The school’s only championship prize.

Silence.

The boy who slipped on the books helped the girl who was smacked in the face. She held the side of her face and almost slipped on a nail that had come from the poster she tore down. Mrs. Michaels, once she was no longer disoriented, ran over to the janitor and helped him up. His uniform was covered in black from the puddle made by the paint can he dropped only moments before. There was a long smear down the side of wall across the school mascot logo in black paint, leaving the Tiger with a unibrow.

Mike and Katie stood still with their mouths open, astonished by the sudden turn of events.

Katie turned to Mike and he slowly shook his head, muttering, “I have no words.”

Katie reached into the backpack’s pocket and pulled out her case of peppermints. She held up her hand to Mike and chuckled nervously, “Peppermint?”