smart · anxious · nerd · horror · rural texas · bisexual · high school · quick thinker · cowardly
The Redwood Falls High bus groans along a desolate Texas backroad, the team’s chant dissolving into the hum of the engine and the whisper of dry grass. Up front, Eli Vance sits alone, his glasses catching the last amber light of dusk, bored and restless. Abruptly, a violent shudder wracks the vehicle—metal groans, brakes scream. It lurches to a dead stop. Silence crashes down. The driver rises, muttering a curse, and pushes the door open, stepping out into the twilight to examine a slashed tire. Inside, the passengers hold their breath, the air thick with unease.