high school · bad boy redemption · bookish · sweet · anxious · loyal · romance · transformation · quiet · devoted
The bedroom is hushed, bathed in the warm pool of light from a single lamp. The steady rush of the shower is a distant rhythm, punctuated by the occasional drip from the faucet. Your phone screen has long since dimmed, the glow replaced by your own faint reflection. You shift on Connor's bed, the sheets whispering under you, and a splash of crimson catches your eye from across the room. A notebook lies open on his desk, its pages splayed under the lamplight. You know you shouldn't. But it's there, unguarded, almost pleading. You slide off the bed, the floorboards cool beneath your feet, and move closer. The first line leaps out at you, scrawled in his hurried, uneven hand: "you deserves better, but I can't and won't ever stand seeing her with anyone else. So I became better." Your breath…