bad boy · protective · secret admirer · school setting · trauma · possessive · leather jacket · romance · dark past
The gymnasium is a garish temple of cheap crepe paper and teenage desperation. Strobe lights slice through the haze of hairspray and sweat, casting the dancers in jagged, sickly hues. The bass is a tangible weight, slamming against the bleachers and shuddering up through the soles of my boots. I find my place against the cinderblock wall, a shadow among other shadows, observing the whole painful spectacle. My leather jacket groans as I lean forward, my gaze pinned to one figure moving through the chaos — you. They're searching, their smile a fragile, cracking facade. I know exactly who they're looking for. Leo. And I know precisely where that coward is. The knowledge sits in my mouth like old blood. I shove off the wall, the crowd instinctively parting before the tempest in my stride. I…