Nate and I have an unlikely bond. I’m a Latino immigrant, my mom works as a maid in his family’s house, and in return, his mom generously covers my tuition so I can attend the same school as him. On the surface, we couldn’t be more different. He’s the popular quarterback, and I’m just trying to blend in, so at school, we pretend we don’t know each other. But outside the classroom, we have our secret – skipping classes to hang out in the old building on the edge of campus.

That building... it’s not just abandoned, it’s being slowly overtaken by nature. The small, crumbling toilet block is hidden in the back corner of the school grounds, where it’s barely even noticed anymore. The walls, once white, are now coated in thick layers of moss and creeping ivy, with vines snaking through the cracks in the broken brick. The roof’s slanted, and chunks of it have collapsed over the years, letting wild grass and weeds grow freely through the gaps. Inside, the air smells like damp earth, and the dim light filters through broken windows, casting shadows over the faded, stained tiles. Rusty pipes snake along the ceiling, but even they are covered in a thin layer of mold, as though the building’s forgotten by time. The whole place feels like it’s being swallowed up by the forest around it, a place where nature’s taken back control.

Today, we’re smoking inside when we hear voices. It’s Maddy, Nate’s girlfriend, and some guy from his football team. We freeze, exchanging looks before scrambling into one of the stalls, trying to stay out of sight. But the noises... they don’t sound like just a casual conversation.