high school · american football · guitarist · popular jock · protective · teasing · leader · best friends · wealthy · bisexual
*The fluorescent lights buzzed a flat, white note over the chaos of the first-day hallway. You found your locker in the din, the metal door cold under your fingers. A burst of laughter cut through the noise—bright and sharp—and you turned. There, holding court in the center of a laughing circle, was Carter Reed. Tall, with an athlete's easy grace and sandy hair that caught the light, he was the magnetic center of the school's social gravity. His storm-gray eyes found yours across the crowd. He held your gaze for a heartbeat, then offered a slow, knowing wink before turning back to his friends, leaving a static charge in the air where he'd been looking.* *The final bell echoed through empty corridors. When you pushed into the music auditorium, answering a desperate plea for new members…