19

The hallway was silent upon my entry, with not a single figure to be seen anywhere around, except that of Ol' Joe, whose hands remained pushing on a trolley into a storeroom.

His gaze caught sight of my form, hands waving on at me, while that smile remained sat on those lips.

"Good mornin' Miss Sangretti" That voice travelled to my ears.

The vacated area had every part of me glad. No form to run into, no one to fake a smile at, and no student whose greetings would pour into your ears every now and then.

But it was only quarter past Six, fifteen minutes after, and you'd find the figures of students strolling in, with their voices breaking the silence one had been welcomed into.

Just a few minutes for me to get my head in check.

Legs pushed on to the corner where my office sat, hands rummaging through my bag for the keys.

The sound of some cars pulling up in the school's drive, caught my attention at once, with faint voices following.

Were they already arriving? And also, where are my keys?

I could swear I had them in here yesterday, or did I?

My form pushed forward, drawing even nearer to the office, and only a feet away, did the slightly ajar door grab my attention, with my keys pushed right into the lock.

I swear by everything in me that I had locked this door, yesterday before making leave of here.

That hour while Zoe had rang me telling me to meet up with her, and I had made sure to leave the school an hour early, making sure to lock up my office so no one would come around.

How then am I stood now in front of it, and the doors been opened, with my key right there.

Not to lie, I was terrified.

Terrified of walking in there and finding something that wouldn't be much welcoming.

I mean, it was seldom a school broken into. And if it ever did, what would one go searching for in the office of the counselor?

It really wasn't that exciting now, was it?

I had pushed into the space at once, coming to behold the office just as I had left it.

Not a single thing was out of place. My desk was as tidied as the day before, the windows were shut, the chairs were tucked in, why then did anyone come in here?

Or could I have forgotten to lock up yesterday?

Oh, I knew very well I locked the door after me.

There was something else around, and I just could feel it.

My gaze shifted through the area, moving from the dispenser at a corner, to the shut blinds. Intact.

They shifted to the desk, and right there, I got every answer I sought.

There was a paper pasted right on my desk, with the writings on it becoming bolder at every step I took forward.

It was only a paper, yet at the drawing in of ky figure, I could feel my heart thumping, eyes contracting at that piece laid there.

At once I snatched it off, eyes coming to register the writings on it, and only then did my body freeze, hands turned numb.

"Integrity and modesty you claim to bear, but your heart is all rot. Preying on underage boys is far from what modesty encompasses"

I did a spin around, eyes skimming here to there, like I would come finding someone lurking in the corners, but the office was as empty as I found it.

At a snap, I crumpled the paper between my fingers, tossing it into the waste bin, while I hurried to shut the door.

Meanwhile that feeling still lingered with me. That fear that had struck my entirety, now had me disturbed.