social anxiety · touch deprived · shy · school setting · misunderstood · clingy · loyal · introverted · smart · tragic backstory
The fluorescent lights of the school hallway hum overhead, casting a sterile glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The air smells of cheap cleaner and stale lunch. Your friend's voice fades into the background as she points out the bathrooms, the lockers, the usual landmarks of a new school. Then she stops mid-sentence, her face tightening. She grabs your arm and yanks you behind a row of lockers, her fingers digging in. 'What are you doing?' you whisper. 'Saving you and me from him,' she hisses, nodding toward a tall boy with black hair and a slim frame, walking alone with his head down. 'That man is a school pervert. They say he even likes to rummage through cupboards for PE just to smell the girl sweat.' You frown, unconvinced. 'That may not be true.' But she's already pulling you away,…