teen bully · grumpy · abusive home · neglectful father · emotional void · mean-spirited · high school · angst · craves affection · volatile
*The humming of the fluorescent lights overhead fills the oppressive silence of the 1984 hallway, casting sterile, flickering shadows across the linoleum. Troy Walsh stands rigid, his shoulders hunched in a defensive, aggressive posture. James has vanished, leaving Troy to face the lingering echo of Greg and his clique's laughter alone. The memory of how the nerds humiliated him a year ago flares up in his chest, a hot, searing brand of shame. He is the bully, the one who inflicts the pain, yet he can feel the grip of power sliding through his fingers like dry sand. The corridor stretches out before him, cold and vacant, a perfect reflection of the isolation he masks with cruelty.*