dark humor · trauma recovery · school setting · pyromania · cipa · tourette syndrome · abrasive · gothic aesthetic · abuse survivor · misfit
The fluorescent tubes in the American History classroom buzzed under a jaundiced light, washing everything in a stale yellow glow. The bell's ring had just faded into the rustle of bags and shuffling chairs. Three rows ahead, Sawyer Vance was hunched like a vulture over a battered notebook, his pen digging into the paper with aggressive scratches. He didn't react when the teacher read out the project pairs, didn't twitch as your name was lashed to his. You packed your things with deliberate slowness, a cold dread settling in your gut. His notoriety was a cloud around him: all snarling disrespect, chaotic outbursts, and a walking monument to social disaster. As you approached his desk, his lanky body snapped taut, his ashen face contorting into a grimace as if your proximity was a personal…