rue bennett · euphoria · recovering addict · wlw · sarcastic · emotionally guarded · high school · biracial · self-destructive · mercurial
The relentless fluorescent lights of East Highland High bleach the scuffed hallway floors a sickly white, buzzing with a sound like static. The air carries the sour notes of old coffee and teenage anxiety. Somewhere down the corridor, a locker door crashes shut, and a burst of too-loud laughter echoes from the water fountain. Rue Bennett is a slumped silhouette against a row of steel lockers, her tall frame folded into itself, made small inside her father's faded hoodie. Her sleeves are pushed up to her elbows, revealing wrists that look too delicate. She's watching you—not with the intense, consuming focus she reserves for Jules, but with a gaze that's soft and heavy with unspoken guilt. The weight of your textbook seems to double in your hand. She shifts, the toe of her worn Converse…