The festival lights were long gone. Monday morning light poured through dusty blinds instead, gray and unforgiving. The four of them trailed behind the principal like prisoners of war, their footsteps echoing down the quiet hall.
PRINCIPAL:(snapping over his shoulder) I don't want a sound. Not a whisper. Not a giggle. Not one single stunt out of the four of you.
His shoes clicked angrily on the floor, each step screaming disappointment. Lila saluted his back dramatically, unseen by him, which earned a muffled snort from Ethan. Maya jabbed her elbow into his side to shut him up. Noah just walked in silence, face blank but eyes quietly amused.
They reached the detention room — the dreaded Room 12. Rows of old desks. The air smelled of chalk and dust. The principal stopped, turned, and glared at them like they were a plague on humanity.
PRINCIPAL:(pointing inside) Sit. Do not test me again.
The principal's voice still echoed in their heads as the heavy door slammed shut behind them. The room smelled of varnished wood, chalk dust, and stale air. Rows of desks stretched like a graveyard of rules, the fluorescent lights buzzing like angry bees overhead. Mr. Griggs, the supervisor, hunched over his mountain of papers at the front, his glasses sliding down his nose as if even they were tired of him.
The four of them sat in a crooked cluster of desks toward the middle. Their laughter from the carnival fiasco still clung to them like static, but the weight of detention pressed against their shoulders. For a moment, it really was silent — too silent for a group like them.
LILA:(mocking in a whisper, mimicking the principal) "Do not test me again." Please. He looked like his tie was about to strangle him.
ETHAN:(grinning, leaning back in his chair) More like a tomato about to explode.
Maya bit her lip to keep from laughing
LILA:(whispering, mock-serious) Ten bucks says his tie is choking him.
ETHAN:(deadpan) Five bucks says his soul left in 1985.
Maya stifled a giggle, covering her mouth. Noah gave them both a warning look, his expression unreadable. The tension from earlier still clung to him, his words about "reckless" and "cold" echoing in Maya's mind. She glanced at Lila, who was scribbling little crowns on the desk with her pencil, her jaw still set like she hadn't fully forgiven him.
The silence stretched… until Lila broke it, as always.
LILA:(murmuring to Maya, too loud) If I sneeze really loud, he'll think the room's haunted.
NOAH:(low, flat) Don't.
ETHAN:(without looking up) She's going to do it.
And of course, Lila did. An exaggerated, ear-splitting "AAAH-chooo!" bounced off the walls. Mr. Griggs jerked his head up, veins bulging at his temple.
MR. GRIGGS: Miss Reyes!
LILA: (sniffling, hand on chest, utterly innocent) Allergies, sir. Can't control nature.
The glare Mr. Griggs gave her could've peeled paint, but after a long sigh he dropped his head back into his papers. That was all it took. Maya snorted into her sleeve. Ethan's shoulders shook violently as he pretended to cough. Even Noah bowed his head, lips twitching against his will. The fight from before cracked, softened, and gave way to the familiar chaos that defined them.
⏳ Minutes bled into an hour. Detention was supposed to be punishment, but the four of them began bending it into their own playground.
Lila slipped a folded paper across to Ethan. He unfolded it under the desk. Inside: a terrible doodle of Mr. Griggs as a troll with the caption "Dungeon Master 1985." Ethan's face didn't move, but his eyes glimmered, and he slid it to Maya. She nearly choked trying not to laugh.
Noah, pretending not to care, tapped his pencil against the desk in a rhythm. Subtle. Intentional. Lila picked it up instantly and began humming along in the faintest whisper. Maya joined with a quiet tap of her own sketchbook against the wood. Soon, the whole back row pulsed with an unspoken beat. Ethan finally slapped the desk once, perfectly timed, like the final drum note. The four of them broke into silent grins — a whole band in the shadows, right under Mr. Griggs' nose.
MAYA:(whispering, sketching quickly) Hold still.
She captured the three of them in rushed pencil strokes — Lila mid-grin, Ethan half-bored half-amused, Noah tapping with that sharp focus of his. For once, it didn't feel like the rumors about her sketchbook mattered. Here, drawing them felt right. Alive.
LILA: (squinting at Noah, whispering) Admit it. You liked the chaos on stage. I saw you smirk.
NOAH: (flat, whispering back) It was catastrophic.
ETHAN: (siding with Lila instantly) Smirk equals approval. Science.
NOAH: (deadpan) Science also says you two are insufferable.
LILA: (snapping, louder now) Oh, please. You act like you're above it all, but you thrive on drama.
NOAH: (turning, sharp) Wrong. Unlike some people, I don't need to set the world on fire to feel important.
Lila's jaw dropped. The sting in his voice hit harder than she expected. Ethan's eyes went wide, halfway between "oh no" and "this is the best thing I've ever witnessed."
LILA: (leaning in, furious whisper) At least I don't hide behind a wall of sarcasm because I'm terrified of being real.
NOAH: (voice low, tight) At least I don't mistake chaos for personality.
The air cracked. Their words weren't shouts, but the sharpness carried more weight than volume ever could.
ETHAN: (hissing) Okay, okay, gladiators, take five—
LILA: (ignoring him) You always think you're better. Smarter. Like you're the only one who cares about anything.
NOAH: (biting) Maybe because I am smarter. And I don't care about everything—just the things that matter.
LILA: (cutting in) Translation: nothing.
Their glares locked like swords, neither willing to blink first.
MAYA: (finally breaking, slamming her pencil down) Enough! Both of you. You sound ridiculous.
Her voice snapped through the room like a whip, freezing all three of them. Even Mr. Griggs stirred but, miraculously, didn't look up.
MAYA: (hissing) You're going to get us in trouble—again. And for what? To see who can win some… some ego battle no one else is keeping score of?
ETHAN: (raising his hand slightly, half-joking) For the record, I was keeping score. Noah was ahead by one until Lila played the "terrified" card. That tied it up.
MAYA: (glaring) Ethan.
ETHAN: (sinking back down, hands raised in surrender) Noted.
Noah and Lila, though still bristling, seemed to finally realize the absurdity of their whispered duel. The tension in the air cracked, softer this time. Lila's lip twitched, Noah looked away too quickly, and Ethan smirked.
Within seconds, the four of them were shaking with silent, barely-contained laughter, shoulders bouncing as they tried not to get caught.
LILA: (grinning) That wasn't detention. That was rehearsal for greatness.
ETHAN: (snorting) Greatness of idiots.
NOAH: (shaking his head, but smiling faintly) …Idiots, maybe. But ours.
MAYA: (closing her sketchbook, softly) Yeah. Ours.
And as they walked out together, side by side, their laughter echoing down the hall, it was clear — even detention couldn't break them. If anything, it made them stronger. A storm contained in four chairs, waiting to spill out again.