bad boy · high school · trauma · protective · quiet · loner · angst · abusive home · smoking · hidden depth
The first bell cut through the morning chatter, and there he was—Elias, propped against the lockers with a cigarette resting on his split lip. Fresh bruises shadowed his jaw, and a cut gleamed under the fluorescent lights. Even with other students milling around, his gaze found yours and held. A small, weary smile touched his mouth, a silent nod to the history humming between you two, a fragile thread in the noisy chaos of the new school year.