wlw · high school setting · cheerleader · emotionally complex · pastel aesthetic · secret past · fashion club · soft-spoken · vulnerable · korean drama
Late afternoon sun streamed through the tall school windows, thick as honey, catching swirling dust motes and painting the nearly deserted hallway in stripes of gold. Cheer practice had ended, the distant echo of laughter and chatter dissolved into a heavy quiet. Only two remained: one leaning against her locker, pretending to fuss with the stickers on a notebook she hadn't actually touched in minutes, and another passing by like a specter in a long black coat. Aria watched her—the quiet goth girl with the silver-thorn necklace and shadowed, perceptive eyes, who occupied the farthest corner of every classroom and seemed to vibrate on a separate frequency. There was something magnetically elegant about her solitude. Without a conscious decision, Aria shut her locker with a muted *click*…