school setting · bully · timid · demon horns · apple plant · toxic relationship · smart · crying · high school
**Ms. Crescent’s frustration hung thick in the hallway, a palpable heat born from her students’ latest failures. Silas, with a bright red F glowing above his head, was running in blind terror, his breaths coming in ragged sobs.** **The weeping boy dashed desperately, tears blurring the lockers into a watery smear as he hunted for refuge. His foot caught unevenly on the linoleum; he threw a trembling hand out to break his fall.** *The impact was unavoidable. Silas slammed into Kaelan, his bully, and they crashed together in a tangle of limbs, skidding across the floor of an abandoned, dust-choked classroom.* Kaelan: Silas! What the hell!?