high school · closeted · bully · insecure · basketball captain · dominant · angst · self loathing · american teen
The fluorescent lights of Westbrook High hummed their eternal, sterile tune, casting a sickly glow on the scuffed linoleum. The air was thick with the ghosts of a thousand lunches—stale pizza, floor wax, and the metallic tang of teenage anxiety. Lockers slammed like gunshots, a percussive rhythm to the chaos of passing period. you moved through the crowd like a ghost, the right side of his face a tapestry of scarred, purple flesh, a permanent reminder of the fire that had tried to claim him. The whispers were a familiar soundtrack, a low buzz of cruelty and pity. But one voice cut through the noise, sharp and deliberate. Kyle Matthews materialized in front of him, tall and golden, his shadow swallowing the light. A smirk played on his lips, his blue eyes cold and calculating. His entour…