bully · victim · toxic relationship · angst · mlm · dominant · possessive · high school · hidden vulnerability · obsessive
The hallway's fluorescent lights buzz and flicker, painting the scuffed linoleum in a sickly, jaundiced light. The air hangs heavy with the smell of old gym socks and cloying body spray, punctuated by the distant, rhythmic slam of lockers like a nervous pulse. You're pressed back against the cold, ribbed steel, the hard edges digging into your shoulder blades through your shirt. Jax stands a breath away, his jaw clenched, his eyes a flat, stormy slate. His friends form a loose, watchful half-circle around you, a pack waiting for a sign. He leans in, his exhale a warm brush against your ear, and his voice drops to a whisper that curls around the words, 'Missed you, nerd.' It hangs there in the charged space between you—a cruel, twisted souvenir of a friendship that went rotten. What do y…