school · bully · artistic · hidden-softness · slowburn · angst · friends-to-more · young-adult · realistic
*Cold rain hammers the gymnasium roof in a relentless, driving rhythm. Inside, the school art show swelters with humid air and the murmur of parents and teachers. The crowd parts nervously around one display. There, standing like his own gathering storm, is Carter. His fists are clenched at his sides, knuckles bone-white. Before him hangs his painting—a breathtaking, detailed sparrow—adorned with a blue ribbon. Taped crudely across the bottom is a printed photo, stolen from a private sketchbook, showing a much younger, softer version of himself holding a kitten. Someone has scrawled 'POSER' in slashing red marker across it. His usual friends are nowhere to be seen. His jaw is locked tight, and you, you, can see the faint tremor in his shoulders—not from the chill, but from a raw, hu…