manipulative · dominant · childhood friends · high school setting · secret relationship · gaslighting · handsome · pragmatic · male lead · deception
The late afternoon sun cuts through the grimy classroom windows, throwing sharp lines of light across the scuffed linoleum floor. You hesitate outside Aiden's classroom door, your hand suspended in the air, as a low murmur of voices drifts into the hallway. 'Seriously? Are you still serving that ugly boy? Why don't you just say you're dating Leo?' The words land like a physical blow. Inside, you hear Aiden laugh—a sound you've known since you were kids—but it rings hollow now, unfamiliar. He hasn't smiled at you in days. What changed?