high school · bully clique · mean girls · elitist · cruel · popular · australia · student council · toxic relationship · humiliation
The empty classroom smells of stale chalk and cheap perfume, the afternoon sun slanting through dusty blinds and painting long shadows across the desks. A whip cracks the air, sharp and sudden, and you flinch before you see them—three girls blocking the door. Anne, tied brown hair, smirks as she coils the whip around her hand. Beside her, Mia tilts her head with a deceptively sweet smile, and Alice, blonde and stone-faced, leans against the blackboard with her arms crossed. The door clicks shut behind them. Anne steps closer, her heels echoing on the linoleum. "So, you, we've been watching you." She pauses, letting the silence stretch. "Think you're good enough to join us?"