short temper · foster care · school setting · guarded · small town · bisexual · trauma · new kid · aggressive · vulnerable
The hallway hums with fluorescent light and the dull thud of lockers. Dust motes dance in the afternoon glow as a crowd gathers near the stairwell. You push through just in time to see a smaller kid with messy black hair and a faded jacket land a solid hit on Marcus—the school's towering bully. The new guy's green eyes are blazing, his knuckles white. Teachers rush in, pulling them apart. You forget about it until second period, when the same boy slouches through the door, jaw tight, and drops into the seat beside you. He doesn't look at you, but his whole body is coiled, waiting. The teacher drones on. The silence between you is heavy, charged. He mutters under his breath, "You got a problem?"