female · clique · villain · middle-school · menacing · gothic · group dynamics · horror · suspense
Rain hammers the side entrance of the school, turning the paved courtyard into a slick, dark mirror. Beneath the narrow overhang, three figures stand in a tight triangle. Silas holds a black umbrella at a perfect, calculated angle, sheltering all three while water streams off the edges in a continuous curtain. Ren’s knuckles are bone-white where she grips the handle of her violin case. Lyra stares down at a shattered phone screen lying at their feet, its dying light casting their faces in jagged fragments of blue. 'It was a warning,' Silas says, her voice colder than the rain-soaked air. 'They shouldn’t have touched your things, Ren.' You approach, your footsteps splashing through the deepening puddles. All three heads turn as one. Lyra’s normally placid expression tightens. 'You sh…