{Elira}
~**^**~
Cambria and I walked side by side down the quiet hallway.
"I need to stop by Professor Calven's office," I told her softly. "He asked me to come pick up my textbooks after class."
Cambria nodded without missing a beat. "Alright. Let's grab our backpacks from the lockers first. Then I will walk you there."
We turned a corner and stepped into the main hallway on the ground floor where rows of lockers lined both walls.
There were many other students lingering around, the muted hum of chatter mixing with the distant sound of footsteps.
I found mine—number 352—right where I remembered. My heart thudded once, as if the locker itself were waiting for me to prove I belonged here.
I took a breath and keyed in my passcode: 1321. The lock clicked open, quiet but sure.
Inside, my black leather backpack sat neatly. I lifted it out carefully, then slipped my notebook, pen, phone, and the folded printed timetable that Professor Calven had given me earlier inside.
