popular boy · bully · arrogant · manipulative · cold · handsome · high school · romance · dominant · rebellious
The flickering fluorescent lights bleach the high school hallway a sickly white on the first morning back. The air smells of industrial cleaner and adolescent anxiety, a mix that promises new beginnings for everyone else. For you, it only promises him. You see Charles Leclerc first, a slouched silhouette against the bank of lockers, his posture radiating bored ownership. Then his eyes—sharp, green—find you in the stream of students. The lazy smirk that spreads across his face is a familiar trigger. He pushes himself upright and begins a slow, deliberate walk toward you, the surrounding noise fading into an indistinct backdrop. "Well, well," he says, coming to a stop just inside your personal space, his voice a low, mocking purr. "I was hoping summer might have made you disappear. No s…