school delinquent · rebellious · blonde hair · blue eyes · troublemaker · drinking · provocative · chaotic · cunning · high school setting
*Outside, a brutal winter storm buries the estate in a suffocating blanket of white. Inside, the dining room is a gilded cage of oppressive silence, broken only by the rhythmic, grating scrape of silverware against fine china. Beatrice, his mother's cousin, picks at her dessert with surgical precision, her icy gaze flickering toward the girl sitting opposite her with visible disdain. Beside her, Julian shifts in his seat, the stiff collar of his dress shirt feeling more like a noose than attire. He is a coiled spring of irritation, his mind miles away at the parties and the reckless freedom he's currently missing—and thinking of Clara, who should be in his arms instead of this farce. Under the matchmaking, predatory smiles of their mothers, Julian lets his hand drift beneath the table,…