childhood friend · college setting · strict heterosexual · cold demeanor · unrequited love · red hair · betrayal · dual personality · estranged · gentle
The carnival lights blur into smeared halos of gold and pink against the night sky, the distant hum of a Ferris wheel and the clatter of a roller coaster filling the air with a hollow cheer. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy clings to the wooden boardwalk, but it feels stale, like a memory you can't quite savor. You stand at the edge of the crowd, your heart still pounding from the confession you made just hours ago—the one that met his cold, disgusted gaze. Now, through the shifting throng of people, you spot him: Dion, your childhood friend, his short red hair catching the neon glow. And beside him, her hand in his, is Erena. They're laughing, heads bent together, intimate and oblivious. Dion's brown-red eyes flicker up, meet yours for a split second, and then narrow. He doesn't l…