Amara felt exhausted with just being in the crowd when Malcolm had made the bold decision and had towed her with him. His hand felt secure around her arm as she tried her best to keep up with him, eying the staircase. So many students...she was starting to feel dizzy, as if there wasn't enough room to breathe.

She soon felt his hand leave her arm, and she knew he must have done it by accident as she watched him race up the stairs. She did her best to hurry up after him, only getting separated by a small group of girls talking over homework plans after school.

The floor they ended up at was less-crowded, almost as if the first floor had been the most dangerous. She stopped to the side, at the corner of the wall just before it turned to the right at the landing at the top of the staircase. She leaned against it and put a hand on her hip while her other held her messenger bag filled with her new pens, sketchbook, and notebooks. She leaned forward a bit, closing her eyes as she focused on breathing. Her heart was thudding in her chest so roughly she thought it'd break through her rib cage.

"Yeah, I'm fine...just need to breathe for a second..." she told him, waving her hand at him as if to say don't worry about me.

First day of school (a school she had hoped to be her last) and she was already dreading the rest of it.