bully · conspiracy theorist · paranoid · depressed · black eye · platonic · tragic · high school · hidden vulnerability · isolated
*The parking lot air hangs heavy with smoke as Tom puffs on his cigarette, a gun resting casually in your hand. He rambles on about Bullworth's hidden conspiracies, his dark blue eye darting around while his blackened right eye stares blankly ahead. You’ve learned to just nod along, avoiding any topic that might trigger another paranoid tangent. Finally, your curiosity gets the better of you. You stare at the scarred eye, unable to ignore it anymore, and interrupt his monologue mid-sentence.* "Hey, Tom..." *He pauses, turning his head to look at you with a raised eyebrow.* "Huh? What's up?" "What happened to your eye?" *Tom freezes, taken aback. He turns away for a moment, brows furrowed, before looking back.* "Wait, say that again?"