[hr][right][sup]Monday — Morning — Hallway[/sup][/right]Keone's breath stopped for a moment, drawing back as though wounded. He didn't have a retort. He didn't have a response. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. He only gripped his sides with his hands, biting his lip and shutting his eyes as his head turned down, and Kat's footsteps echoed through the empty hallway. There was a quiet sob. [hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6nBtFZF.png[/img][/center] [hr] [color=82ca9d][i]Kat's right. Completely right. I'm not going to make it. It's already Monday, and I'm falling apart at the seams. I'm just doing my best not to cry when other people are watching. It feels like that's all I can manage right now. [sub][b][color=222222]my light[/color][/b][/sub] Ever since I lost it, I haven't had any place to go back to. I've been going without the one solace in my life. And I thought that I could just...grin and bear it. Just get through this one week. And then everything would be fine. But that isn't how it works. Even he sees it, plain as day. I have to get myself back. I have to be myself again. I have to. But...how? And what about Cece...? I can't just abandon her...she said she'd make it up to me. She promised. [sub][b][color=222222]believe[/color][/b][/sub] I don't know what to do. It used to all be so clear. Why can't I see anymore?[/i][/color] [hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/TxnmzgQ.gif[/img][/center] [center][color=222222]the rain continues to fall[/color][/center] [center][color=222222]99 : 31 : 07[/color][/center] [hr][right][sup]Monday — Morning — Athletic Field[/sup][/right][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHbSqH_xf0A][img]http://i.imgur.com/KdzywDR.png[/img][/url][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/rv9C1mw.jpg?1[/img][/center] The school's gymnasium was an outdoor one - with a large, elliptical track that overlapped with a baseball court to save on space. The basketball and tennis courts, separated by short gates that more than one determined student had climbed in the past, looked ill-maintained. The tennis court, in particular, had the net simply untethered from one post, collecting a puddle on the ground. Moreover, the field hadn't been picked up since at least the last game played, and there were stray baseballs, hurdles, and other equipment simply strewn about. [sub][b][color=222222]responsibility[/color][/b][/sub] It was nothing short of an absolute mess. Whoever's job it was to keep the fields clean and tidy had clearly not been doing their part. [sub][b][color=222222]it's too much shouldn't have to anyway it's not fair in the first place[/color][/b][/sub] [sub][b][color=222222]guard[/color][/b][/sub] "Alright, so..." A short-haired woman in a red tracksuit stood out in the pouring rain, not even caring that she was getting soaked. Most of the students had brought umbrellas, but many hadn't. There was no forecast for rain, after all - according to all the weather stations, it was supposed to be clear all week. "I'm supposed to give you a physical final, but, uh..." She slowly turned around, glancing at the mess of a rainy track as water dripped from her hair. Her face seemed to physically buckle under the weight of the sight. "...just...whatever." [right][sub][b][color=222222]too much stress too much expectation too much pressure[/color][/b][/sub][/right]She threw a clipboard over her shoulder dismissively, not even calling roll. "Here's the deal then, boys and girls. And, you know, whoever else. I'm gonna go crash in the faculty lounge." She brazenly pointed a thumb at the building. The warm, dry, building. "I'm gonna come back in two hours, and if the field isn't clean, you all fail. [color=999999]Someone[/color] catch this." Nonchalantly tossing a keyring into the crowd, expecting [color=999999]someone[/color] to be the one to pay attention and grab it, the equipment shed key, as well as numerous other keys to doors that students probably shouldn't have, landed in a pile on the ground. [sub][b][color=222222]disconnected[/color][/b][/sub] No one seemed to care. [right][sub][b][color=222222]don't want to don't want to just want to sleep instead[/color][/b][/sub][/right]"See ya, runts." The students looked back and forth amongst each other, as the teacher simply...up and left. A classroom full of students, unattended, in the middle of the rain, and told to do their teacher's job. That was their 'final'. [sup][color=bbbbbb]"Are you kidding? We have to clean up the field in the rain?" "I don't really feel like it...I mean, look at it. It's a lot of work." "It's too much! We shouldn't have to, anyway. It's not fair in the first place."[/color][/sup] One student simply turned around and began walking off, back into the building, raindrops bouncing off of his umbrella. "Where are you going?" A girl turned around, trying to stay under the protection of her friend's umbrella, next to her. The boy didn't stop, looking back only for a moment. [sub][b][color=222222]someone someone who is someone nobody is someone[/color][/b][/sub] "We all pass as long as [color=999999]someone[/color] cleans the field." He states simply, "I don't have to do anything. You want to pass? You clean it." [right][sub][b][color=222222]i can't i can't i can't i can't[/color][/b][/sub][/right]For a moment, the group of students was silent. But then, one after another, as though seeing the truth of a holy man's sermon, began to follow. One by one, students split off, each going separate ways, or nowhere at all. [sub][b][color=222222]someone someone[/color][/b][/sub] [sup][color=bbbbbb]"Yeah, that makes sense. [color=999999]Someone[/color] will do it, right?"[/color][/sup] [sub][b][color=222222]who is someone[/color][/b][/sub] [sup][color=bbbbbb]"It's better if I don't have to do anything."[/color][/sup] [sub][b][color=222222]nobody is someone[/color][/b][/sub] [sup][color=bbbbbb]"I just don't care enough, let's be real..."[/color][/sup] [color=8882be]Among the students leaving was Ceciliane Dulac, who was, as always, uncannily prepared with her own umbrella. She looked back at Keone for a moment, her eyes lacking their usual sharpness. Then, she paused for a moment, and glared - truly [i]glared[/i] at Keone, for the first time that anyone had ever seen. Then, she turned on her heel and continued her journey outward, as curtly as ever.[/color] [color=82ca9d]Keone seemed to flinch at Dulac's glare, but didn't move. Not out of stubbornness, or resolve, but merely out of indecision. He didn't seem to know whether to leave or stay. He'd brought an umbrella with him, but hadn't opened it. It sat closed at his side, while the rain poured relentlessly onto him.[/color] [color=ffe0e0]Rebecca never brought an umbrella, but was too wrapped up in her own mind to even realize that she was being rained on. It didn't seem like she was even aware of what the teacher had said, or what the students around her were doing - until she momentarily glanced at the keyring on the ground, and then back down at her feet, weighed down by mental exhaustion.[/color]