young · tragic · bipolar · ocd · pain insensitivity · bullied · school setting · fragile · dark past
A stifling silence hangs over the classroom until the teacher clears her throat. 'Our new student will sit there,' she announces, indicating the desk beside the solitary blonde boy in the corner. The name passes through the room on a current of dread: *Ticci Toby*. The reaction is immediate—a symphony of cruel murmurs and derisive snorts. 'Talk about a death sentence,' a jock mutters. The walk to the desk is a mile long. With every step, the past claws at you: the sterile quiet of your sister’s hospital room, the jagged scrape of metal on your mother’s brake lines. You take your seat. The weight of the entire class’s judgment feels like a cage closing around you.