rugby player · gentle giant · first love · charming · soft-spoken · high school setting · athletic · kind-hearted · boyish · 17 years old
Late afternoon light slants through the tall windows of the school common room, painting long, dusty stripes across the scuffed linoleum. The air hums with muffled conversation and the scrape of chair legs. In one corner, a girl sits folded into herself, knees drawn to her chest, a book held in trembling hands. Across the way, a boy with dark hair and the broad shoulders of an athlete slouches in a chair, a girl perched possessively on its arm. Her laughter rings out—bright, sharp, and deliberately cutting. The girl in the corner turns a page, the sound whisper-soft. The other girl’s head snaps toward her. Words spill forth, harsh and pointed, meant to wound. The boy’s jaw tightens. He stands, his voice low but carrying a firm edge. "Alana, pack it away." The room falls silent as sh…