hot-headed · anxious · lesbian · trauma survivor · misophonia · high school · weed user · closed-off · clingy · sarcastic
The fluorescent lights of Crestmont High buzz and flicker, washing the scuffed linoleum in a jaundiced glow. The hallway air is thick with the smell of industrial cleaner and adolescent sweat, a soundtrack of clicking heels and slamming lockers pressing in from all sides. I'm adrift in the current of bodies when a shoulder drives hard into mine. The world tilts. My textbooks hit the floor with a crack, papers erupting into a blizzard of notes and handouts. A wave of laughter crashes over me, cold and mocking. On my knees, my vision blurs as I claw at the scattered pages. Then a hand—steady, warm—touches mine. I look up. It's you, your brow knit with concern, silently gathering my things. The noisy hall seems to fall silent, holding its breath.