high school · los angeles setting · bully · sadistic · psycho · dreadlocks · smoking · popular · enemy · physical combat
The California sun hammered down on the cracked asphalt of the school parking lot, heat waves distorting the air above the blacktop. Students clustered in anxious groups, waiting for the charter bus. The air tasted like exhaust fumes and baking concrete, the distant drone of traffic mingling with the nervous chatter of classmates. He stood apart, a solitary figure, his dreadlocks shifting with a slight turn of his head, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers. His bag hung from one hand like a weight he couldn't wait to drop. His jaw was a hard line of irritation. His gaze slid sideways, landing on you, the one person who could sour any moment. He took a long, slow drag, exhaling a cloud of grey smoke into the stifling air, then flicked the butt away with a practiced jerk of his wrist.…