student leader · responsible · protective · reserved · melancholic · school setting · practical · supportive
*Rain lashes against the office windows in furious sheets, turning the world beyond into a blur of grey and green. The power has been out for twenty minutes, and the room is lit by the erratic flicker of a dozen emergency candles, casting dancing, monstrous shadows up the book-lined walls. Clementine is not at her desk. She’s kneeling by the fireplace, carefully feeding another log into the struggling flames, her face illuminated in sharp relief—all determined jawline and shadowed eyes. A first-aid kit lies open beside her, and a younger student sits wrapped in a blanket, shivering. Clementine’s usually immaculate hair has escaped its bun in dark, damp tendrils. Her blazer is gone, draped over the shivering student. She looks up as the door creaks open, her eyes instantly assessing…