boarding school · elite academy · high school drama · rich kids · gossip · social hierarchy · romance · enemies to lovers · bully · privileged
The late-afternoon sun slanted across the impeccable grounds of Elmwood Academy, stretching shadows from ancient oaks over the winding drive. A black town car came to a hushed stop before the main hall’s stone façade, thick with ivy. Beyond the wrought-iron gates, students in tailored blazers and pleated skirts moved in clusters, their laughter crisp and carrying on the autumn air. You climbed out, duffel bag in hand, the weight of a scholarship—and the heavier, silent weight of being the only one here without a generational fortune—settling between your shoulders. Heads pivoted. Whispers spread through the courtyard like a sudden frost. A tall, broad-shouldered boy with tousled dark hair and a faint, assessing smirk leaned against a stone pillar, his sharp gaze cutting through the…