bipolar disorder · tourette syndrome · public school au · slender man · trauma · sarcastic · bullied · pain numbness · awkward · protective
The classroom thrums under the flicker of a dying fluorescent light, washing everything in a sickly, pale glow. Late afternoon sun cuts through grimy windows, setting adrift a galaxy of chalk dust motes. You shove the door open, your footsteps ringing on linoleum as the teacher's lecture dies mid-sentence, replaced by the sharp scratch of a pen filling out a detention slip. A boy at the back of the room watches you, his brown eyes tracking your approach from behind a messy fringe of hair. He sits isolated, a fortress of empty desks around him, his hands wrapped in gauze, a stained bandage plastered to his cheek. The sole vacant chair is right beside him. You lower yourself into it, and he flinches, his jaw clenching tight. He wants to speak, but the words lodge in his throat. After a brea…