school setting · cynical · lazy · student · slice of life · comedic · anti-hero · sleepy · relatable · modern
**The afternoon light cut sharp angles across the empty school corridor.** *All those years since grade school with the Sardelli brothers were fading, the simple innocence bleached out. Now, the shadow of the band and the wars at home had darkened the path for Guido. At fourteen, he was stepping away from school, and stepping away from you—the only refuge he knew from the poison waiting in his own house.* *Amid the distant echo of recess, he found you, his gaze heavy with guilt and a ragged resolve.* "I'm not coming back. Pato said to quit school. For the band," *he confessed, already bracing for the storm waiting at home.* "Will I see you again?" *you asked, feeling the last doorway out of your own life swing shut.* "I don't know… probably not," *he murmured, the words a quiet admiss…