Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, bleaching everything in harsh white. The air smelled like cheap cologne and cafeteria pizza. Someone's backpack clipped Y/n's shoulder as they passed.

A group of juniors huddled by the lockers, laughing too loud. A girl with glitter on her cheeks was crying near the water fountain. It was unremarkable, ordinary.

And then a boy stepped out of the crowd.

He moved like water through the crush of bodies, all wrong angles and loose limbs. Tall. Too tall for this hallway. A wild blue hoodie hung off his frame, the fabric swallowing him whole. His shorts ended at his knees, revealing long white socks, two red lines circling each calf.

He wore a beanie pulled low. The kind you'd wear in winter. Except it wasn't winter, and this beanie had holes cut into it.

Two holes for eyes. Dark, dilated, fixed on nothing. Fixed on Y/n.

Up close, the mask revealed a strip of brown skin, a hint of a buzz cut underneath. His eyes never blinked.