As the last of the stampede of students entered the school building, someone began locking the big double doors behind them. While most of those remaining outside were either dazed and already wearing an item of clothing forced upon them or in the process of fighting one in mid-attack, about a dozen students were left banging on the doors from the outside, desperately begging for them to be opened.
One by one, they were all picked off. A sundress here, a parka there, a pair of boxers or a T-shirt. In turn, they descended upon a target and dragged them away from the school building before stripping off and replacing a part of their outfit.
It was moments after the last student was dragged away from the door when the first of them snapped out of their trance. Tom Welles, the first victim, took in a deep breath and blew out through lungs that didn't have nearly the same capacity as they'd had an hour earlier. His eyes changed. Refocused. Became human again after maybe twenty minutes of feeling inanimate.
He ran for the doors. He banged on them just as desperately as the stranded students before him had, but with less strength than he was used to. With his face pressed against the small window inset into the door, he could see the packed main hallway writhing with panicking students. And he could see the person who was standing against the door, as though guarding it.
Biff Meadows. Starting quarterback. Captain of the football team. Tom's football team. Tom's leader was standing right on the other side of the door, teasing salvation.
"Biff!" he shouted in a voice that didn't have enough force behind it. "You've got to let me in! Come on, man! It's like coach says, we're a team, we've got to stick together. Stick together with me here! I need help!"
The more Tom spoke, the more desperate his words became. And the more Tom spoke, the colder Biff's expression turned. And the more Tom spoke, the higher he had to tilt his head in order to look Biff in the eye.
Monica Tobin crashed into the locked door beside Tom with more speed and more force than she had ever gotten out of her legs before. The impact hurt her shoulder, leaving her in shock for a moment before joining Tom in his pleading.
But a shadow fell over Biff's face, as the boy looked away from his teammate and turned to press his back against the small window, blocking Tom's view of the inside.
"He turned his back on me." Tom looked at Monica and registered through his shock that the two were now the same height. "He literally turned his back on me."
Monica kept banging, and soon a boy wearing only a pair of jeans and a slowly-filling bra joined her. Then a girl wearing a set of Carhartt's overalls. As people regained their senses, they all joined in the effort to gain access to the school building.
And in the middle, Ms. Finch rubbed her temple and looked down at the gray sweatpants sitting on her legs, which she had never worn before.
