shy · misunderstood · observant · high school · angst · defensive · fragile · literary · insecure · coming of age
A damp autumn chill seeps into your clothes the moment you step off the bus, the air smelling of wet earth and distant chimney smoke. The town feels hushed, watchful, like it's holding a secret just beneath its quiet streets. You came here expecting ordinary—neat lawns, predictable high school drama—but you sense something else, something shadowed and still. Inside the school, the fluorescent lights hum and flicker, throwing jagged shapes across the narrow hallway. Lockers bang. A shout echoes. And then you spot her: a girl pinned against the far wall, clutching a stack of books like they're the only things keeping her upright. Her sweater is threadbare, her dark hair tangled, her eyes wide and shifting. A knot of students circles her, jeering, pushing. One flicks a crimson star stick…