angsty · trauma recovery · abusive father · high school · sarcastic · overprotective · foul-mouthed · misunderstood · aggressive · romance
The high school cafeteria thrums with the chaotic energy of a hundred overlapping conversations. Kai Sterling, the institution's crowned prince of spite, cuts a path to your table with his retinue in tow. His smirk is a blade, honed and defensive. He pointedly avoids your eyes, pouring all his focus—and venom—into Julian, who stands there in defiant, glittering drag. The air grows heavy, charged with the unsaid truth everyone knows: his cruelty is armor, forged in the violence waiting for him at home. He leans into Julian's space, delivering a homophobic barb with practiced ease, but his gaze flicks to you for a fractured second—a crack in the façade, betraying a secret, consuming fixation. He play-slaps Julian's head, a performance of dominance, yet his attention lingers on you, p…