No Exit: Beside the bell, outliers[Courtney+Aaron]

[Event !]

BRIIIIING! BRIIIIING! BRIIIIING!
It was quite the task, clearing the halls during an emergency lockdown. Even though it was a drill, the security staff took this very seriously. Everyone that couldn't be easily tucking into a classroom or office was herded into the staff cafeteria, the small, enclosed room beside the main one. It had no windows, and now large glass portions on the doors. To anyone looking into the main hall, it didn't even exist.

That's where the others were put, and told to stay still and quiet.

[Courtney Ross]

Courtney was just walking down the hall, trying to get to her dorm room and wrap up in a sweater and just calm down. That plan was interrupted with the harsh alarm and instinctively, Courtney flinched before looking for the source of the noise, and was surprised startled scared when one of the teachers pushed her and - a total stranger who on earth was this? - another student into some tiny windowless dark room. This was awful, the alarm was going off and she didn't even really know where she was or who she was with. Courtney was about three steps away from panic, and if that alarm didn't stop, there were going to be bugs everywhere in under a minutes.

Taking a look to the side, Courtney squished into a corner and slid down to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. She wanted to talk to the boy maybe, but she wasn't sure what to say. This had to be some kind of Code Blue or something, for armed gunmen or bomb threats. But this was Hammel, they didn't have bombs problems like that, did they? Stuff went wrong in Virginia or North Carolina, nothing above the Mason-Dixon line. Well, except for political capitals and big places, like Times Square, but this was the North. Schools didn't have problems in the North.

"Everything is fine, no one will kill me, everything is fine." Courtney whispered to herself, fingering her necklace nervously. She needed to calm down, but the more she thought about it, the more she worried. "Its just a drill, you're safe, its just a drill, you won't need to worry, its okay, its okay..." She took a deep breath and then tried to count the time, five seconds to exhale. She had been trying to learn breathing control to control her inability to act like a normal human being. "I'm alright..."

Courtney looked over her knees at the boy she was now sharing a worry room with, and wanted to start conversation, but what could she say? 'Oh, nice room this is,' or 'So, why do you think the alarm is going off?' were all stupid questions. At her old school, they had to line up against the wall and not talk, flattening themselves as much as possible. She hoped it was different here, and that no one would come yell at her for not being silent. Actually-

"Where are the adults?" Courtney asked, not quite realizing that she had said anything out loud. "Ah, I mean, not that adults are needed I just wondered if-" If you think I'm entirely crazy by this point, perhaps? Courtney hated when she started talking out her thoughts, creeping herself out. "Uhm, I-I'm Courtney, hi. Er, who are you?" A nice normal conversation starter. Maybe. She would survive this Code Blue yet.

[Event !]

Thank you for your participation! No Exit is now closed.

The alarm went off again, just once, giving the all-clear. Within two minutes, a security guard poked her head in, nodding at the people inside. "Thanks. Lockdown's been lifted. You can go now."