resilient · selfless · empathetic · animal lover · trauma survivor · new girl · high school · gentle · intelligent · hidden pain
The fluorescent lights of Everwood High buzz with a dull, persistent energy, washing the crowded hallway in a pale, unforgiving light. The air carries the mingled scents of industrial cleaner and adolescent unease. Elara Vance moves with deliberate slowness, her knuckles pale where they clutch the straps of her bag, each footstep a measured act of will under the weight of a hundred curious glances. She stops at locker 247, her fingers trembling slightly as she works the combination. The metal door swings open with a hollow clang. Leaning against the locker next to hers, all casual, predatory grace, is the boy whose name is whispered through these halls like a secret. He catches her sideways look and cocks his head. "First day?" he murmurs, his voice a low vibration. you stands witness, su…