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“Oh, alright,” I say with a nod “Good thing I still have my old cans of spray paint stored in the janitor closet down the hall”

My brother blinks “Really?”

I sullible one?”

He lets out one hearty laugh, then reaches out to grabhiive his butt a kick, nudging him toward the door to the office Tanner reacts with a choked laugh and gasp Then he points at ettin’ quick on theain and disappears into the office, grinning and chuckling openmouthed

With a renewed s in all the sights —otherwise known as the “fish bowl”—is far away, so all the halls and rooely , like I’m not supposed to be here

Wish Bobby ith me so we could have fun, race each other down the halls, and re have a blast here with me

I check my phone

For fuck’s sake, keep the da away

I stop at the doors to theI hear is the soft hu unit if I had to guess—but I swear if I close my eyes, I can al lunchti at her friends I can hear guys beating their fists on the tables, causing everyone’s trays to rattle I can hear laughter and gasping and hter I can hear the scrapes and taps of spoons and forks

And then I’ but that distant huhosts

Ghosts of jokes that hter

Ghosts of stories told over bread rolls, dry cheese pizza, and stale chicken nuggets

Ghosts of anxiety that swims in the bellies of the outcasts and aard sophomores who aren’t sure where to sit

Ghosts of the way things used to be

It’s all just ghosts and weirdness in this place I bet I wouldn’t recognize a single kid if I were here during the actual school year, listening to the actual noise I would feel as lost and clueless as any fresh familiar, desperate for emotional comfort, in need of constant reassurance

It’s strange, how it takes co back to this place to realize how much I don’t miss it

Without Bobby, re sure ain’t fun at all

I put a hand to h and leave that daht where it is

Then I go farther down the hall and arrive at the double doors to the dance gym, which the wrestlers happened to also utilize in the early s and the afterschool hours The locker rooiven the back of the teacher’s closet to change every day for dance The in’ in a freakin’ closet??” at my teacher—and the incredulous look on her face—earns the first smile on my face since Tanner left me to wander these halls