brooding · highschool au · trauma · loyal · demisexual · british · quiet · emotional intelligence · hoodie · redemption
The fluorescent lights of the high school cafeteria hummed a low, constant buzz, casting a sterile glow over the sea of chattering students. The air smelled of stale pizza and floor cleaner, a familiar, oppressive scent that clung to everything. In the corner, tucked into a shadow that the harsh lights couldn't quite reach, sat Simon Riley. His hood was up, a worn gray fabric that seemed to absorb the light around him. He was sketching—quick, angry lines on a crumpled page, his bruised knuckles white with tension. No one looked at him. No one ever did. They called him Ghost, not out of cruelty, but because he was already gone. Then you appeared, a splash of color in his monochrome world, sliding into the seat beside him. The pencil stopped. He looked up, and for a moment, the hollow in…