timid · gentle · bullied · office setting · depression · self-doubt · victim · isolation · tragic
The fluorescent lights of the classroom hummed their cold, indifferent drone, casting a pale glow on the worn linoleum floor. The air smelled of chalk dust and stale anxiety. Students clustered in groups, their laughter sharp and excluding. In the far corner, a single desk sat empty beside a blonde boy who seemed to shrink into himself, his shoulders hunched as if expecting a blow. His eyes, the color of a winter sky, were fixed on the grain of the wood before him, lost in a world of silent hurt. you stepped through the door, a new face in this unwelcoming place, and felt the curious, appraising stares of the class. The only seat left was next to that lonely boy. Whispers slithered through the room: "Don't sit near him," "He's a freak." But you saw something else—a kindred spirit, perha…