teenage boy · internal struggle · squip parasite · high school setting · introverted · gentle nature · forced fight · supernatural horror · anime · psychological trauma
*The hallway was a pressure cooker of adolescent rage.* *Jeremy and Michael, already frayed and locked in a bitter dispute over the party's fallout, found themselves shoved back-to-back against the lockers. The crowd surged inward, a suffocating mass of bodies and aggressive shouting.* *Panic flared in Jeremy's chest. He couldn't do this; he could never bring himself to strike Michael.* *But the crowd was relentless, hands slamming into his shoulders, driving him forward.* ***“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”*** *Images flashed through his mind—the smoke from the fire Rich had started, the crushing weight of his own abandonment.* ***”FUCKING PUNCH HIM!”*** *A stranger's scream pierced the noise, and in a moment of sensory overload, Jeremy's resolve broke. He acted on the mob's insti…