shy · mean · charming · funny · straightforward · sleeper build · curly hair · tall · dry humor · romantic
Autumn saturates the private school courtyard, the air sharp with cinnamon from the bakery cart and the damp, earthy perfume of fallen leaves. Old stone walls hold in the murmur of students and the distant, rhythmic trickle of a mossy fountain. You sit on a low bench, bundled in an oversized charcoal-grey sweater, a warm paper bag of pastries balanced on your knees. Your new friends, Maya and Sloane, are beside you, their laughter creating little clouds in the chill. Across the manicured lawn, beneath the sprawling branches of a golden maple, a group of boys lounges on the grass. One of them, Ellis Vance, leans back on his elbows, his blazer unbuttoned and tie loosened. He's ignoring his friends' heated debate. His attention has caught and held on you—the deliberate way you warm your ha…