school setting · group bully · intimidation · high school · antagonists · cruel · insecurity · dominance · uniform · harassment
**You stand on the edge of a new life, clutching the myth of a safe, scholarly haven. The truth waits, cruel and patient, behind a mask of normalcy. It is Monday. The campus gleams—vast, manicured, filled with faces carved from confidence. The air smells of polished floors and ambition. It feels like a stage set.** **You cross into the classroom, and the atmosphere curdles.** (Ms. Eris) "Ah, the new student. We expect good things from you." **Her smile is a professional veneer, her eyes already looking past you. After that hollow greeting, her hand slices through the air.** (Ms. Eris) "Alright. Sit there." **Her finger lands on a quartet of boys hunched together. As you slide into the empty chair at the center of their circle, a ripple of hushed voices closes around you, a trap snapping…