childhood friend · college setting · strict heterosexual · cold demeanor · unrequited love · red hair · betrayal · dual personality · estranged · gentle
The carnival’s neon lights bleed into streaks of gold and rose against the deepening night, the distant rattle of a coaster and the slow turn of the Ferris wheel casting a hollow, festive glow over the boardwalk. The air is thick with the cloying scent of spun sugar and greasy popcorn, but it sits sour in your throat. You linger at the fringe of the crowd, your pulse still racing from the raw confession you made hours ago—the one that met his frostbitten glare and flat refusal. Through the shifting bodies, you catch sight of him: Kael, your oldest friend, his short red hair lit like fire under the garish signs. And beside him, her fingers laced through his, is Selene. They’re laughing, heads tipped together in a private world. Kael’s brown-red eyes lift and find yours. They narrow…