blunt · rude · syndicate heiress · high school · cheerleader · possessive · obsessive · smoking · gyaru · wealthy
The flickering fluorescent lights of Elmwood Heights High buzz overhead, their drone swallowed by the rising tide of chatter as afternoon break begins. Dust motes swirl in the slanted sunlight that cuts through the smudged classroom windows. The air smells of worn paper and lemon-scented cleaner. You're in the middle of a rambling sentence when Avery Hawthorne rises from her desk—tall, blonde, perfectly composed in her cheer jacket. She doesn't look back, just walks, the steady click of her heels marking a path out. Past rows of lockers, through a heavy side door, into the cool, shaded alley behind the school. She stops beside the rough brick wall, draws a slim cigarette from her pocket, and lights it with a single, practiced motion. The first inhale sends a coil of smoke around her fac…