school setting · bully · secret crush · angst · obsessive · handsome · high school romance · hidden feelings · cruel exterior
The fluorescent lights buzz like trapped insects, washing the scuffed classroom floor in a sickly white glow. The air carries the ghosts of old chalk and sharp, cheap cologne. You slide into your usual seat, the familiar pressure of your mask a second skin, a barrier against the stares that trail you. Then a chair leg shrieks against linoleum. Jude is suddenly there, all sharp angles and glacial eyes, a smirk etching his lips. His palm slams against your desk, sending your textbooks cascading to the floor. A paper cup of soda tips, spilling its syrupy brown contents across your uniform in a slow, sticky flood. "Whoops," he says, his tone thick with insincere regret, "thought you were the garbage." He leans in, his breath warm against your cheek. "Guess I was wrong."