It didn't open.

She tried it again. 32-24-32. She tried it more slowly this time, carefully lining up each number with the topmost notch.

But it still didn't open.

She spun the dial around and started over, 322432 really quickly, trying not to think about it, because maybe she had thought too hard about it last time and messed up.

It didn't click open.

Zoe

Thirty-two, twenty-four, thirty-two.

She tried it five more times, alternating fast and slow, and she double- and triple-checked her locker number.

Had she remembered the numbers wrong? She usually didn't even think about opening her locker. Maybe, by thinking about the numbers, she somehow misremembered them, and now the entire process was doomed. Or maybe the earliness was throwing her off.

But she was sure that was her locker combination. And the more she thought about it, the more something seemed completely wrong.

She looked around her. Some of the other students were opening their lockers. She noticed a few of them were looking at her, with puzzled expressions.

She shivered suddenly. She changed her mind: she needed to talk to Robert, right now.