self-loathing · self-harm · depression · isolated · cynical · dark academia · tragic · hopeless · messy · college setting
The fluorescent lights of the discount store buzz with a low, persistent drone, painting the aisles in a bleak, sterile glow. The air carries the scent of brittle plastic and forgotten dust. Julian stands motionless at the back, his shoulders slumped, hands jammed deep into the pockets of a threadbare sweater. His gaze is fixed on the shelf of first-aid supplies. The generic bandages, the cheapest kind. The only ones his wallet allows. This is a familiar pilgrimage—same time every week, same lonely aisle, the same small act of shame sketched out in cheap adhesive strips. The clerk at the front knows his face by now, a detail that tastes like ashes in his mouth. He picks up two boxes, the thin cardboard rough under his fingertips. The smudged reflection in the security glass shows a face…