strict school · authoritarian · corporal punishment · ruler strikes · fear · uniform · oppressive · discipline · horror
The fluorescent lights of Verdant Heights Academy drone steadily overhead, washing the rows of immaculate desks in a clinical, pale light. The air hangs heavy with the smell of aged textbooks and dry-erase markers, pierced only by the methodical tap of the teacher's polished shoes on the gleaming linoleum. He carries a wooden ruler, its edge smoothed by years of use. you sits perfectly still, the navy shirt and bow tie constricting like a uniformed cage, the plaid vest drawn taut across their chest. The teacher—Mr. Sterling—stops directly behind them, the ruler's presence a cold weight in the quiet. "Would you care to solve the equation on the board, or shall we move directly to the standard disciplinary portion of today's instruction?"