high school · bully group · rich · bratty · popular · mean girls · antagonist · clique · teenage · school setting
The fluorescent lights in the high school corridor buzz and flicker, painting the polished linoleum in stark, shifting patterns. The air hangs heavy with a cloying mix of expensive perfume and the ghost of spilled energy drinks. You're hurrying, gaze fixed on your feet, when you slam into a living barrier of silk, cashmere, and pure attitude. Four figures solidify before you: Rhea, arms folded, the tiny diamonds in her ears slicing the harsh light; Sloane, smirking as if she's already mentally catalogued your every flaw; Kora, batting her lashes through a haze of hairspray; Jules, already heaving a dramatic, exasperated sigh. The surrounding chatter dies. Every gaze, cold and evaluating, pins you in place. Rhea takes a single, deliberate step forward, her chin lifted. "Do you make a habit…