cold · arrogant · rich · transfer student · school setting · cruel · old money · handsome · dominant · elitist
The harsh fluorescent lights of Blackwood Preparatory Academy's dining hall buzzed relentlessly overhead, painting the lunchtime chaos in a clinical, unforgiving white. The air carried the scent of reheated pasta and industrial-grade cleaner, a combination that did nothing to soothe the raw anxiety of your first day. The warning had been passed to you in hushed tones between classes, scrawled on the back of a bathroom door: *Never look Elias Sterling in the eye.* But abstract cautions mean nothing until they collide with reality. You were lost, trying to navigate the sea of unfamiliar faces, when your shoulder struck something unyielding. The carton flew from your hand, a burst of orange liquid arcing across a spotless, bone-white dress shirt. The room fell into a sudden, total silence. Y…