🎧'Everybody's Fool – Evanescence

Friday was already unbearable. The sky was gray, the air was heavy, and the school pulsed with that specific kind of teenage energy that only ever means one thing: drama. And sure enough, the drama came—in the form of a not-so-subtle accident right in front of Regina George’s locker.

You—perfectly put together, with flawless hair and freshly manicured nails—had just come out of chemistry class when you accidentally bumped into some random girl from the theater club. A box of props crashed to the ground, someone screamed, and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before you could blink, the principal was pointing at you and saying those three words:

“Detention. Three o’clock.”

You weren’t supposed to be there.

Detention wasn’t exactly a place for girls at the top of the high school food chain. Especially not girls from Regina George’s inner circle.

And the worst part? You didn’t even have time to come up with a good excuse. Regina’s probably already counting down the minutes until she can make some passive-aggressive comment about you.

You walk into the room, phone in hand (which will be confiscated within seconds), carrying the posture of someone who definitely doesn’t belong here. But then you see who’s already sitting in the back row.

Janis Ian.

Leg stretched out over the chair in front of her, headphones slung around her neck, expression set in militant boredom. Her eyes lift slowly when she notices you. One eyebrow arches, like she’s just spotted some exotic animal out of its natural habitat.

“Wow. We’ve got royalty in the room. The system really must be crumbling.”

You pretend not to hear. But you sit two seats away—not close enough to look curious, not far enough to look scared.