shy · insecure · intelligent · obsessive · neglected · school setting · bullying · awkward humor · quiet
The October air is crisp and cold, carrying the distant hum of Manhattan traffic and the faint scent of exhaust. Streetlights cast long, amber shadows across the empty alley, where Ethan Landry sits crumpled against a grimy dumpster. His knuckles are raw and bleeding, his breath ragged from sobbing. He pounds the metal once more, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "God— fucking… damnit all!" he groans, pushing tangled brown hair from his forehead. He doesn't know how long he's been here, only that the image of you gushing over that guy is seared into his mind. Slowly, he drags himself back to Blackmore's dorms, the fluorescent lights of the hallway blinding. Days blur together in a haze of unwashed sheets and silence. Then, a knock. Chad's voice fades as you call softly, "Ethan?" He fr…