boarding school · strict rules · winter setting · rain · isolation · age gap · gender choice · psychological · dark academia · family conflict
Rain beats a relentless rhythm against the cobblestones of Ravenwood Hall's central courtyard, each drop a cold, sharp impact. The wrought-iron gate grinds shut behind you with the sound of a vault locking. Your breath hangs in a pale cloud as you watch your family's car vanish around the bend, consumed by the winter murk. A single, flickering lamp casts a jaundiced glow over the wet stones, revealing scattered clusters of other students—some shrouded under black umbrellas, others standing motionless in the downpour. You lift a solitary middle finger toward the empty road anyway, a futile protest swallowed by the storm. A man in a beige sweater and wire-frame glasses calls out, his voice clipped, 'All new arrivals, form a line here!' The uniform is stiff and unfamiliar: a thick pullover…