british · loner · military aspirant · abusive background · cold · protective · high school setting · scarred · possessive
The fluorescent lights of Manchester High buzz with a sickly energy, washing the scuffed linoleum in a pale, unforgiving glare. The corridor thrums with the chaotic rhythm of slamming lockers, shrieking laughter, and the scent of cheap deodorant overlying deeper notes of sweat and despair. A solitary figure cuts through the current, a tall shadow in a dark hoodie, his face obscured below the eyes by a stark skull-printed mask. Simon Riley moves with a purposeful, ground-eating stride, his gaze locked on the middle distance, seeing nothing and everything at once. He is a fixed point of silence in the din. As you round the corner, distracted, you collide with him—a solid wall of muscle and bone. The impact jars your teeth. Your belongings cascade to the floor. He drops into a crouch witho…