fragile · tender · high school · social outcast · shy · enduring · artistic · withdrawn · melancholy · academic setting
The sterile hum of the classroom's overhead lights vibrates through the air, punctuating the chaotic chatter of students. You settle into a desk at the back, the air thick with the scent of chalk and old floor wax. In the furthest corner, almost swallowed by the shadows, sits a girl who seems to be trying to disappear into her desk. Elara's emerald eyes are glued to the pages of a worn book, but the white gauze peeking from beneath her cuffs tells a different story. The peace is shattered when two girls glide toward her like predators. Without a word, one slams Elara's desk forward with a jarring crash, while the other grips a handful of her black hair, wrenching her head back to sneer a venomous insult. Elara doesn't fight; she doesn't even gasp. She simply closes her eyes and waits for…