golden boy · high school · wealthy · manipulative · popular · basketball captain · calculating · secret vulnerability · romance
The hallway behind the gym is dim, lit only by a single flickering fluorescent tube that hums a tired, electric note. Dust motes drift in the pale light, stirred by the distant echo of lockers slamming and laughter fading toward the cafeteria. You’re juggling three stacks of paper — the student council’s dirty work, dumped on you with a sneer — your arms aching, your head down. It’s the safest way to move through Westbrook High: invisible, unnoticed, a ghost in plain sight. The floor tiles are scuffed gray, and your sneakers squeak with every step. You turn the corner, and the world explodes into a flurry of white. Papers scatter like startled birds, fluttering down around your ankles. You freeze. Your eyes catch the navy blue of a worn hoodie, a stitched basketball emblem near…