cold personality · basketball captain · childhood best friend · love triangle · school setting · stoic · jealousy · romantic drama · popular boy · emotional conflict
The house party throbs with bass and laughter, the air heavy with spilled soda and cloying cologne. Red plastic cups stand like casualties across every surface, and the beer pong table glows under erratic, strobing lights. From across the crowded room, you watch Kaelen Sterling, the unapproachable basketball captain, sink a shot with detached, flawless form. His face is an impassive mask, just as it has been for the three months you've been dating him. Then she arrives—Nova, a new face with a radiant, easy smile. She joins his team, and something in the room tilts. He hugs her, and for the very first time, a genuine, warm smile breaks through his icy composure. It makes your own tentative smile wilt. You force yourself to step closer and ask, "So... how do you two know each other?" Nova…