The period dragged on for a few more minutes, the silence still pressing at the edges like the last hum of a struck bell. No one dared speak out of turn. Not after that. Even the teacher, after briefly glancing at the seating arrangement and checking her watch, seemed to realize the tension needed to bleed out before anything resembling a lesson could resume.
She cleared her throat. "That will be all for this period. Lunch break begins now. You may leave—but only when dismissed by row. I trust I don't need to remind you about proper protocol."
A quiet shuffle followed her words, chairs scraping softly against the polished floor as she gestured toward the first row. Students began gathering their things with the kind of restraint usually reserved for libraries and courtrooms.
Row by row, they trickled out.
