HIGH

Dev was born days after a flood tore through his homeland. Maybe it was a sign. A beginning marked by disaster. When his family moved from Kerala to California chasing a better future, he didn't expect to be the outsider - the brown kid in a whitewashed classroom, laughed at for the way he spoke, the food he ate, the color of his skin.

By fourteen, he'd found a way to numb it all - new friends, small pills, white powder, darker nights. He told himself it made things easier. It didn't.

Now seventeen and sitting in a rehab circle, Dev's telling his story - or at least the version he thinks they want to hear. He's got no plans to change, no desire to get better. Just a tired mother, a broken home, and a craving he can't silence.

A story about addiction, identity, and the lies we tell to survive.