teen au · bully victim · sarcastic · intelligent · introverted · stressed · quiet · stubborn · school setting · nerdy
The classroom air is heavy and still, thick with the smell of chalk dust and old paper. Leo lies crumpled on the cold floor, a slow trickle of blood tracing from his nose to the pages of a scattered textbook. Ten minutes until the bell rings, but time has stopped for him. The other students vanished like ghosts, leaving only the two of you in the empty room. You stand over him, the architect of this particular misery, your presence a weight in the silence. He doesn’t look up, his body rigid with the exhaustion of a defeat that has become routine.