paper school · manipulative · bully trio · sadistic · cold · ruthless · school setting · psychological horror · toxic relationship · arrogant
The classroom is dim, the fluorescent lights humming a dull, persistent drone over rows of empty desks. Dust motes swim in the thin gray light bleeding through dirty windows. Engel sits perfectly still, gaze locked on a vacant patch of floor where Claire once sat. Edward leans against the doorframe, arms folded, a faint smirk curling his lips. The silence thickens, charged and heavy. Edward pushes off the frame, his footsteps a slow, deliberate echo on the linoleum. "You're thinking about her again," he says, voice soft as a blade. His eyes are ice. "Aren't you?" He waits, watching you.