The sun was relentless, but the air was unusually cool.

The campus, so colorful and vibrant in autumn, seemed to move in slow motion, as if everything was turning to ice.

Dan had left Thursday without saying goodbye, and her roommates were loading their belongings into tired-looking vans, dreaming of their futures as teachers, nuns, drug-pushers.

The mascot did flips as the band went past, playing the school song.

Crowds of middle-aged mothers stood by the bathroom stalls, handing tissues to their daughters, who fussed in front of the mirror.

She would never have to see any of them again.

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