{Elira}
~**^**~
~Monday~
After lunch, the corridors buzzed with chatter as everyone drifted back toward their classrooms.
My friends peeled off to their own, and I slipped into mine, settling into my desk in the last row.
The air was heavy with that post-meal drowsiness, papers rustling lazily, a few halfhearted whispers floating across the room.
Then the door swung open.
Professor Calven strode in, his sharp eyes scanning the class like they always did. But behind him came two older students, each struggling under the weight of something large and square, draped in a thick black cloth.
They set it down at the front of the room with a thud that made the floorboards vibrate.
Instantly, whispers sparked.
"What is that?"
"A chest? No… too light."
"Maybe a test?"
I sat up straighter, unease tightening in my stomach.
