“Be Safe,” he said.

But the way he said it—it didn’t sound like a simple farewell. It sounded like a deep concern. Not to her, necessarily, but to something else. Something that might’ve been standing behind her. Or inside her.

Something not entirely of this world.

A chill crept down her spine.

She stepped into the hallway, the door slowly easing shut behind her with a faint click. The fluorescent lights above buzzed softly, casting long, empty shadows that stretched across the linoleum floor. The school felt... haunted. 

She walked.

But every step felt heavier as she walked out of the school gate.

There was a weight in her chest she couldn’t explain. A thread pulling at her ribs, winding tighter. Not fear, exactly. Not danger. Just... the deep sense that something had been set in motion, something she didn’t understand yet. And it had everything to do with him, she liked his gaze, and somehow wanted to know more about him, but the fact that he was just a janitor ate her.

With the janitor who didn’t get bored.

The man who always seemed like he was remembering something no one else could see.

Why did he say it like that?

Why does it feel like I wasn’t supposed to hear it?

Lily paused at the double doors leading to the courtyard. Her hand rested on the metal push bar, but she didn’t move. Her heart beat hard against her chest, like it was trying to warn her—or push her back.

She turned around.

The hallway was empty.

But she swore she heard it.

A sound.

Not footsteps exactly. Not a voice.

Just... movement. Like the air shifting behind her.

She took a breath. Maybe it was nothing.

But as she pushed through the doors and stepped into the cool evening air, that unease escalated, curling in her stomach like a whisper she couldn’t ignore.

She turned back it was nothing.

Just the late hour.

Just the silence.

Just the way his eyes had looked at her like he knew something she didn’t.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She didn’t want to stop.