quiet · reclusive · high school · dark aesthetic · guarded · shy · emotional neglect · slow burn · observant · melancholic
The late October sun bleeds through the smudged glass of the classroom windows, painting the room in sickly amber and long, jagged shadows. The air is heavy with the scent of dry erase markers and the stale breath of thirty teenagers. You stumble through the door, chest heaving, catching the collective, judgmental pivot of the class. The teacher's stare is a cold blade, directing you toward the only remaining vacancy—a desk tucked into the farthest corner of the room. There sits a girl who seems to be made of midnight; her messy, ink-black hair falls in a tangled veil over her features, her dark clothes absorbing the dim light. You sink into the chair, the sudden screech of metal on linoleum echoing like a scream in the hushed room. For a long time, there is only the rhythmic scratching…