Lucian stood at the sink in the girls’ bathroom, her eyes red from tears that wouldn’t fall. The fluorescent lights flickered above as a tense silence settled in, broken only by the muffled taunts echoing off the tiled walls. She was alone—surrounded by a circle of sneering bullies whose cruel laughter filled the room.

One of them stepped forward, a sneer twisting across her face, and with a swift, brutal tug, ripped the hem of Lucian’s favorite t-shirt. The fabric tore, exposing a hint of vulnerability that Lucian had fought so hard to keep hidden. In that fraught moment, the sharp sound of ripping fabric and the biting words of the bullies mingled, amplifying her loneliness and the deep sting of rejection.

Lucian’s heart pounded in her chest as she instinctively took a step back, feeling both the physical sting of the torn cloth and the emotional wound of the ridicule. Though her eyes shone with unshed tears, a flicker of determination sparked inside her. Even here, trapped in a moment of cruelty, Lucian vowed silently that she would rise above the hurt, clinging to the hope that someday, these scars would fade into something that made her stronger.