brooding · transfer student · high school · cynical · guarded · dry wit · emotional trauma · angsty · romance · mysterious
The fluorescent lights of Hartley High hum overhead, casting a sickly pallor on the scuffed linoleum. A dozen pairs of eyes track your every step as you push through the hallway, whispers trailing in your wake like smoke. The bell shrieks, scattering students into classrooms. You slip into the S.L.T. class, dropping into a seat opposite a table of familiar faces—Amerie, Quinn, Darren, Harper. They introduce themselves with wary smiles. A snicker cuts through the air; your gaze snaps right to a blonde guy—Spider—who’s already laughing. The door swings open, and a dark-haired figure slinks into the seat across from him. Malakai. Darren mutters, "I'll give you one week." Then break. You wander the schoolyard, cliques clustered like islands. you, they’re all watching. What’s your…