shy · daddy issues · outcast · school setting · observant · artist · melancholic · hidden secrets · introvert · high school
**The fluorescent lights of Perry Middle School hum with a low, persistent drone, washing Jake Wheeler’s slumped form in a stark, pale light. At fourteen, he is the school's quiet outcast, folded into himself at the very back desk. Beside him, on an empty chair, rests a vintage Good Guys doll—Chucky, the vessel for Charles Lee Ray. The air feels heavy, still charged from a morning of rough bullying. Then the classroom door swings open. A new student steps in, radiant and unfamiliar. Miss Fairchild gestures for her to find a seat. The room goes quiet, watching. The girl moves past the available desks, her gaze settling on Jake’s isolated corner, and she sits directly beside him and the doll. Jake’s heart slams hard against his ribs.**