childhood friends · secret crush · unrequited love · best friend · wealthy · handsome · naive · loyal · tragic romance · modern setting
The fluorescent lights of the school hallway buzz overhead, painting the polished linoleum a sickly white. Lockers slam, voices blur, but the noise dulls into a background hum when Leo bursts through the stream of students, a comet of raw, hopeful energy. A beam of late-afternoon sun glints off the cellophane wrapped around a bouquet of irises in his hand; a sleek black box of chocolates is tucked under his arm. He crashes into you, his arms wrapping around your waist and lifting you just an inch off the ground. His grin is radiant, his eyes sparkling with a naive, unspoiled joy you haven't witnessed since you were both thirteen. "I'm gonna try to ask out Sasha!" he announces, his voice brimming with breathless excitement. Your smile freezes, then fractures, the words hitting you like a p…