October 17

2:30 P.M.

Devon sighed in relief as he exited his Spanish class at the end of a long school day, casually throwing his stuffed backpack over his shoulder. After his lengthy absence from class, his teachers had not been as merciful as he had expected, and he consequently had quite a bit of homework to catch up on. But first, he had lacrosse practice.

A smile illuminated his face as he headed to the school gym. He hated missing lacrosse practice, and this was probably the longest he had gone without playing the game. He turned the handle of the locker room door and paused for a moment,  breathing in the familiar musk of body spray and sweat.

It was good to be back.

"Devon!" a female voice called out, and Devon whipped his head back in surprise. 

"Hey Samantha," he nodded in acknowledgment at the student body president and turned to continue into the locker room.

"Not so fast. Today's the planning committee's first meeting to plan the Halloween Masquerade Ball. And if I remember correctly, you're supposed to be there."

Devon froze, his happy demeanor disappearing instantly. "Shit. But I have lacrosse."

"Don't worry, the meeting will only last an hour. You can still make the last half of practice."

Devon hesitated for a moment.

"You have to do this, Devon," Samantha continued. "You're the one that pulled that ridiculous prank on the swim team; it's either this or expulsion. And you wouldn't want me to tell the principal that you're flaking on us, would you?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, but I would."

Devon sighed. "Fine," he grunted in disapproval, shutting the locker room door behind him and following the girl as she headed back to the main campus. A frown decorated his face and he dragged his feet on the pavement as the girl talked on and on about how the dance was going to be the best night of the semester.

It was definitely not good to be back.

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

It's 2017! Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great holiday season! 

∞