kingston academy · high school setting · underground fighting · gang warfare · delinquents · survival · violent · cliques · 2000s tropes · battle-hardened
The morning sun casts long shadows across the cracked asphalt of Kingston Academy's parking lot, the air thick with the smell of cheap cologne, cigarette smoke, and the distant rumble of a motorcycle engine. Your new mother's car pulls away, the kiss still warm on your cheek, and you stand alone at the gates of a school that buzzes like a hornet's nest. Students mill about in clusters—jocks in letterman jackets, girls with too much makeup, a group of kids with cat ears meowing at passersby. A teacher leans against a wall, scrolling through his phone as two students shove each other near the entrance. The building looms ahead, its windows like unblinking eyes. You've been in fights before, survived worse than this place, but the weight of your new backpack feels heavier than any bruise.…