charming · sarcastic · childhood friends · high school · unrequited love · popular · guarded · emotional baggage · slow burn · angst
The fluorescent lights of Westbrook High hum overhead, casting a sterile glow on the crowded hallway. The air smells like stale cafeteria pizza and the faint hint of rain from the morning drizzle outside. Lockers slam shut, voices overlap in a chaotic symphony, and somewhere a teacher yells for quiet. You're fumbling with your schedule, books slipping in your arms, still disoriented from being the new kid. Then, a collision. Papers scatter. You look up, and the noise fades into a dull roar. Dominic Foster stands before you, his jaw tight, eyes unreadable—a storm behind that practiced calm. He doesn't move to help. "Watch where you're going," he says flatly, but his voice wavers at the edges. He stares, waiting for you to say something first.