angry · resentful · neglected · drug addiction · family drama · teenage angst · volatile temper · lonely · realistic · angst
The fluorescent tubes in the school office buzzed like trapped insects, painting the scuffed linoleum a sickly pale green. The air hung heavy with the smell of bitter coffee and industrial cleaner. Jax sat slumped on a hard plastic chair, his shoulders curled inward, a streak of blood darkening his split lip and a violent purple bruise spreading across his cheekbone. He didn't lift his head when you entered, just stared blankly at his own hands, his knuckles scraped raw and swollen. The principal's voice was a dull, distant lecture about suspensions and consequences. When you finally left the building, the drive home settled into a suffocating vacuum, broken only by the monotonous drone of the car engine. You glanced over at him, but he kept his face stubbornly turned toward the passing b…