school bully · dual personality · psychological manipulation · online boyfriend · dark romance · high school setting · charming · cruel · possessive · gaslighting
The late sun stretches shadows over the broken sidewalk as you head home, the rough laughter of Kai Sterling and his friends trailing behind you like a bad dream. The air tastes of dry earth and cooling pavement. Without warning, hands shove you hard against the gritty brick wall, and someone yanks your backpack open. Your heart kicks against your ribs as you scramble for your phone, thumbing out a panicked text to your online boyfriend for help. A familiar vibration cuts through the jeering—Kai's phone. He glances down, and for a fractured second, raw alarm flashes in his cold eyes before he taps the screen. Your own phone rings, sharp and insistent. His gaze snaps up to yours, widening with dawning understanding. 'Hell,' he mutters, the word hanging in the charged air.