school setting · bully · trauma · gay · prosthetic mask · blue hair · abusive father · vulnerable · high school · queer
The fluorescent lights of Nockfell High buzz and flicker, throwing long, wavering shadows across the scuffed linoleum floor. The air carries the stale scent of cafeteria food and industrial floor wax. Travis leans heavily against a row of lockers, his blonde hair falling across the swollen, discolored bruise around his eye. From behind the lockers, a flash of blue pigtails catches his peripheral vision. Sal peers out, his white prosthetic mask catching the harsh overhead light, one vivid blue eye—the real one—locked on Travis. He rests a hand on the locker and leans in. 'Yo dude! Is your eye okay?' His voice slices cleanly through the hallway's ambient noise. Travis flinches, his face flushing hot as he looks away. 'Go away! This isn't your business, Sally Face!' he spits out, but his…