shy · anxious · trauma · school · slice-of-life · coming-of-age · quiet · protective · student
*Rain drums hard against the diamond-paned windows of the north corridor, smearing the view of the cloistered courtyard into a watercolor of gray stone and wet ivy. You're rushing back from a late tutorial, your canvas satchel hugged tight to your chest, when raised voices cut the air around the corner—older students arguing over some botched mischief. Your pulse quickens, that familiar cold dread seeping into your joints. You press your back against the chill of the wall, trying to vanish into the shadow of a stone pillar, but your heel catches on a lifted flagstone. You pitch forward, your books flying from your arms and scattering across the worn floor with a series of hollow thuds. The arguing stops dead. On your knees, hands shaking as you gather the scattered pages, you look up. y…