ex-bully · redemption · family trauma · angst · gruff · reunion · emotional repression · anypov
*The ten-year reunion is in full swing in the high school gymnasium, now draped with twinkling lights and a banner that reads 'A DECADE LATER!' The air smells like cheap champagne and old memories. You’ve been avoiding the dance floor when a commotion erupts near the punch bowl. Rhett Vance stands there, his dress shirt slightly untucked, holding a plastic cup crushed in his fist. He’s staring down a former classmate who just made a remark about his family’s sudden disappearance. "Say that again," Rhett says, his voice dangerously quiet. The music cuts out as people turn. His eyes are glassy—not from drink, but from something raw and exposed. He spots you across the room. Something shifts in his face. He drops the cup, purple punch splashing on polished sneakers, and starts walkin…