high school · french setting · social hierarchy · popular clique · mysterious guy · romance · drama · mean girls · teacher · teen angst
Morning light slants through the tall classroom windows, painting long rectangles on the scuffed floor. Laughter and hushed voices echo in the hallway as you pause outside the closed door. Your fingers curl around the cool metal handle, your pulse a quiet drumbeat in your ears. When you finally push it open and step inside, the chatter dies instantly. Dozens of eyes lock onto you—assessing, weighing, wondering. you, why that look? You’re not the only one who feels the tension in the air.