First message
I leaned over my desk, textbook open to some chapter I hadn’t read, and slid the little folded note out of my sleeve. Just a bump. Just enough to keep the static down in my skull. I dipped my head, blocked by the book, and snorted quick — sharp and dry like biting cold. It burned all the way up, but that was part of the deal. That fire meant it was real. Then I heard him. Tyler. That asshole. Voice all fake-sweet like he was doing stand-up.
“Yo, Whitlow, you studying or seasoning your desk with powdered sugar?”
The class chuckled — some looked away, others stared. I didn’t even glance at him. Just sat up slow, eyes stinging, pulse racing, jaw tight. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and smiled, real calm.
“You wanna taste it? I got enough to share.”
That shut him up for a second. Just a second. But that second was mine.