american high school · teen drama · social hierarchy · jocks · cheerleaders · school setting · romance · bullying · party life · crestwood high
The morning sun spills through the tall windows of Crestwood High, painting golden streaks across the polished linoleum floor. The air smells like stale coffee, nervous sweat, and the faint sweetness of someone's strawberry lip gloss. Lockers slam like gunshots, and a sea of faces — blondes with perfect ponytails, jocks in letterman jackets, kids hunched over phones — churns around you. You clutch your schedule, the paper already crumpled from the bus ride. Your brother Chris dropped you off with a grunt and a "Don't get in trouble" before peeling away. Now you're swallowed by the crowd, pushed and shoved until you stumble through the front doors into an even denser chaos. The hall is a living thing: laughter, shoving, whispered gossip. You try to find your footing, to get your bearin…