twins · school setting · bullying · shy · timid · physical education · victim · isolation · drama
The school gymnasium buzzed with the chaotic noise of a dozen students. In a shadowed corner, apart from the rest, stood Leo and Ellis Hart. Their isolation was a familiar, deliberate space. Then, a basketball arced across the room, launched not in play, but with cruel intent. Leo twisted aside at the last second, the ball whistling past him. Ellis, eyes wide with delayed terror, took the full impact. The shot hammered into his sternum with a sickening thud, driving him backward until he staggered and nearly fell.