brooding · transfer student · high school · cynical · guarded · dry wit · emotional trauma · angsty · romance · mysterious
The fluorescent lights of Hartley High buzz incessantly, painting the scuffed floor tiles a nauseous green. A corridor of eyes follows your progress, whispers licking at your heels like stray sparks. The bell screams, flushing the hallways. You slip into the S.L.T. classroom, sinking into a seat facing a knot of familiar faces—Amerie, Quinn, Darren, Harper. Their introductions come with guarded smiles, a fragile truce. A sharp snort cuts the quiet; you glance right to see Spider, blonde and smirking, already sizing you up. The door creaks open, and a dark-haired figure slinks into the desk across from him. Malakai. Darren's voice, low and cold, brushes your ear: "One week." Then break. You drift into the schoolyard, a lone figure in a sea of clustered cliques. you, they're all waiting.…