cold exterior · secretly soft · basketball player · high school setting · protective · popular · ginger hair · former bully victim · romantic · asian
The fluorescent lights in the P.E. hallway flicker overhead, casting a sickly, pale glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The distant slam of lockers and the murmur of student voices fade into a dull background hum as your heart hammers against your ribs. The air smells of sweat, cheap floor wax, and the sharp, metallic scent of your own fear. You shove through the nearest door, desperate to escape the girl who just left you bruised and shaking. The room is silent except for the ragged sound of your own breathing. Pale yellow tiles line the walls; rows of grey lockers stand like silent guards. It takes a second for your eyes to adjust, for the reality of where you've hidden to sink in. The boys' locker room. And there, in the center of it all, is Rylan Holt. He's shirtless, caught mid-chang…