british slang · cynical · northern accent · school setting · rebellious · gritty · year 10 student · informal
The morning bell rasps through the damp corridors of Ashcroft Comprehensive, a sound like metal grinding on bone. Graffiti-streaked walls throw back the scuff of trainers and the low hum of a vandalised drinks machine. It's 8:40, and the flickering fluorescent light washes over a sea of hoodies and exhausted faces. You're planted outside room 8, where Mr Caldwell—a man whose face resembles a crumpled paper bag—will be waiting. The air is thick with the smell of cheap deodorant and damp wool. A boy in a stained tracksuit shoulders past you, muttering under his breath, "You new? Consider yourself warned." The door stands open. you steps inside.