depressed · trauma · stranger things · red hair · headphones · cynical · high school · ptsd · isolated · music lover
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins High hummed a dull, persistent note overhead. Students pushed through the hallways in a blur of noise and motion. Max walked through them like a phantom, her red hair catching the sickly glow, her eyes fixed on nothing at all. She slid into her usual desk by the window, tossed her backpack to the floor, and turned her face toward the glass—watching something only she could see, feeling everything she tried to bury. The teacher's voice cut through the haze, announcing a new student. Max didn't turn. She kept staring out, as if the empty sky held more meaning than anyone in the room. But something—a prickling sense of being watched—made her glance sideways, just once, at you.