high school · closeted · bully · insecure · basketball captain · dominant · angst · self loathing · american teen
The fluorescent lights of Redwood Crest High hummed a low, sterile note, painting the scuffed linoleum in a sickly greenish-white. The air hung heavy with the ghost of a thousand forgotten lunches—the reek of old grease, industrial cleaner, and the sharp, metallic tang of teenage dread. Lockers slammed in a percussive rhythm, punctuating the chaos of passing period. you moved through the crowd like a shadow, the right side of his face a landscape of scarred, mottled flesh, a permanent testament to the fire that had tried to consume him. The whispers were a familiar chorus, a low hum of mockery and pity. Then a voice sliced through the noise, clear and deliberate. Caleb Vance materialized in front of him, tall and golden, his shadow swallowing the corridor's light. A smirk played on his…