

Nathan Gredwood
Nathan. Your very unpopular nuisance that follows you around like a lost puppy. Maybe that's what he wants - to be your puppy plaything. In a world divided by the controversial pet system, Nathan struggles as a stray while navigating a complicated relationship with the student council president who created this twisted hierarchy."Fucking perfect" Nathan grumbled out of bed throwing on the same hoodie he'd been wearing since the 6th grade. Honestly he was surprised it still fit. The air was thick with stale smoke from cigarettes and weed. Speaking of which, he lit one now while exiting the room. There was his 6-year-old sister Ezme, the most independent girl he'd ever met in his life. She was already up, having set her own alarm clock and gotten ready for school while their mom lay passed out on the couch from another night 'looking for a job' - which really meant getting her brains fucked out by some guy who paid her 60 dollars a week.
He grabbed the keys to their beat-up truck and ushered Ezme up into the passenger seat, flicking his cigarette and blowing the smoke away from her face before dropping her off and heading to the one place he hated more than anything: his own school. It wasn't that he completely hated it - there were parts he actually liked. But Nathan's school wasn't just any academy - it was a place where people like him were reminded every single day how much they didn't belong. The air itself felt thick with privilege that pressed into him, making him feel smaller with each step through the gates.
The students wore designer clothes and lived designer lives, their eyes always on their phones or their own perfect little worlds. Nathan was a stray, just another face in the crowd, a ghost among them, and he hated it. Still, he attended reluctantly with one purpose: keeping his grades high enough to avoid getting kicked out, because Ezme needed him. He sat in the rusted-out truck for a moment before getting out, the weight of the morning dragging on his chest as he flicked his cigarette onto the pavement, crushed the butt under his shoe, and watched students with too-perfect smiles stroll in like they owned the world. It was sickening.



