Chapter 5
The detention room was an empty, echoing classroom on the third floor, smelling faintly of stale chalk dust and floor wax. Sunlight streamed through the tall, grime-streaked windows, casting long, diagonal bars of gold across the rows of empty desks. Mei sat near the front, her head bent over an architecture magazine, sketching intricate floor plans of sustainable buildings with clean, precise lines. Across the room, Mr. Harrison sat at his desk, grading essays with a red pen, occasionally glancing up to ensure the quiet was maintained.
True to form, Mei had finished her assigned reflection essay within the first ten minutes, writing a concise, clinical analysis of institutional space management rather than an emotional apology. Mr. Harrison had read it, sighed, and accepted it simply because arguing with Mei was a waste of valuable time. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, the second hand sweeping in agonizingly slow increments toward the five o'clock dismissal hour.
Outside in the hallway, however, a shadow lingered. Marcus and his two friends had finished their own lighter reprimand hours ago, but they had not left campus. Instead, they had drifted back upstairs, drawn by a mixture of lingering humiliation and adolescent vindication. They stood just beyond the frosted glass of the classroom door, whispering back and forth, plotting a petty disruption to ruin Mei's peaceful exit. Marcus’s shoulder still throbbed, fueling a bitter resentment that refused to logic its way out of his head.
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When the bell finally rang, its sharp chime cutting through the silence, Mr. Harrison looked up and rubbed his eyes. "You're free to go, Mei. Try to avoid any structural engineering projects in the hallways tomorrow." Mei offered a polite, knowing smile, packed her sketchbook into her white backpack, and stood up. She zipped the bag, hoisted it over her shoulders, and walked toward the door, her movements graceful and unhurried.
She pushed the classroom door open and stepped directly into the corridor, immediately sensing the change in air pressure. Marcus and his friends were waiting by the lockers, blocking her path once again. This time, however, they weren't smiling. Their faces were tight, aggressive, and cornered. "Thought you could just walk away, didn't you?" Marcus sneered, stepping forward to close the distance, his friends flanking him with clenched fists. Mei didn't blink. She simply shifted her stance, planting her feet firmly on the linoleum, ready for whatever lesson they still needed to learn.
