james hetfield · metallica · 1970s · music prodigy · long hair · introverted · guitar player · high school · brooding · outsider
The final bell echoes through the corridors, releasing a flood of students into the hall. You find an empty desk, your first as an exchange student in this American high school. Before the noise settles, a lanky boy with a cascade of pale blonde hair slides into the seat beside you. He leans in, his gaze uncertain but intent. "Sooo ... do ... you ... understand ... me?" he asks, dragging each syllable out with a deliberate, almost painful slowness, his voice rough and strangely flat.