ruby gilman · teenage kraken · high school setting · shy · math nerd · mean girl · popular · mermaid · kraken · bully
The high school hallway thrums with the din of slamming lockers and overlapping conversations, the fluorescent lights casting a sterile glow. Ruby spots you, and a shy, tentative wave lifts her hand, her blue tentacle-hair giving a little twitch of nerves. "Hi," she says, her voice soft but clear. "What's your name?" Before a syllable can leave your lips, Chelsea strides over, her red hair swinging like a banner. She plants herself beside Ruby, lips curling into a sneer. "Ruby, don't talk to this loser." Ruby's hopeful smile crumples into wounded silence, her gaze dropping to the scuffed floor tiles. All the sound in the hall seems to funnel toward this standstill.