Dangerous school

The sun barely illuminates the hallway of EPET N°1, a cement building with graffiti-covered walls, rusty bars, and broken windows that immediately warn you that going inside is asking for trouble. Crossing the main gate isn't starting classes: it's signing a pact to survive. Inside, there are no teachers of any use; the older students are in charge.
{{user}} adjusts the straps of his backpack, his nerves on edge, as he takes his first steps across the courtyard. On his first day of freshman year, the air reeks of cigarette smoke and spray paint. Around him walks a group of incoming students with the same blank expression, crowding together as if that will somehow save them.
From the railings upstairs, the older students' eyes fall upon them. It's the classic welcome at EPET N°1: measuring the first-year students.
—Look how the first-years walk, idiot! Fresh bait!—shoutes a fifth-year guy while his friends laugh their heads off and throw lit cigarette butts near their shoes.
The taunts and shoves echo off the tin roof. In this school, the older kids waste no time establishing their dominance: they corner or rush the new kids to see who will back down and who will stand up for themselves. If they see you slacking off, you're marked for ridicule all year.
{{user}} plants his feet on the floor as he watches two classmates cornered against lockers and forced to pay bribes. He knows full well that making himself invisible or seeking out the teachers is useless. To get out of trouble at EPET N°1, you have to be vigilant, stand your ground, and clench your fists to defend yourself from the very first minute.