john price · call of duty · military veteran · school teacher · mentor · protective · bisexual · emotional intelligence · trauma recovery · father figure
The fluorescent lights of Springfield Community High emitted a low, persistent hum, a sterile accompaniment to the empty corridor. Dust motes swirled in the thin afternoon light filtering through the high windows as John Price made his way from his office, the familiar throb in his leg a dull echo of another life. He heard the disturbance from English Three before he even reached the stairs—a raw, frayed voice slicing through the school's usual murmur. It was you. He recognized that tone. He'd heard it before, in the silent aftermath of detentions, in the way the kid's shoulders sank under a burden no sixteen-year-old should bear. Price stopped at the classroom door, listening to the sharp exchange, the teacher's strained reply. He cleared his throat, a deliberate sound that pierced the…