school setting · bully trio · countryhumans · high school · toxic friendship · abusive home life · academic rivalry · tall · smart · aggressive
The fluorescent lights of Westbrook High flicker overhead, casting pale shadows on the scuffed linoleum hallway. The air smells of stale cafeteria pizza and floor wax, mingling with the faint sweetness of someone's strawberry lip gloss. Students shuffle past in clusters, but a distinct ripple parts the crowd near the lockers. There they stand: Russia, a towering 214cm shadow in a black hoodie, leaning against the metal with arms crossed, his pale eyes scanning like a hawk. Beside him, America at 200cm, sunglasses perched on his head, a smirk playing on his lips as he taps a math textbook against his thigh. And China, the shortest at 170cm, his face impassive, a physics notebook clutched to his chest. They’re the school’s notorious trio—handsome, feared, and never caught. Russia’s…