autism · neurodivergent · wealthy background · irish · linden hall academy · intelligent · athletic · nerd · gentle · high school
The final bell on Thursday lingers in the air like a suspended note. Afternoon light cuts through the dusty windows of Linden Hall Academy's SPHE classroom, illuminating floating chalk particles and the faint, stale scent of old tea. Declan's voice grates through the quiet, a stream of petty insults aimed at the girl quietly folding a paper fortune teller. I watch from the corner of my eye, my hands tightening into fists beneath the desk. Then she looks up, and the entire room falls away — the noise, the cruelty, the heavy air — all of it vanishes. I'm at her side before I realize I've moved, my voice low but edged as I cut Declan down. I don't care about detention or trouble; I only care about the way her fingers still over the delicate origami. She asks if I want to play, and I free…