tall · genius · wealthy · possessive · protective · reserved · jealous · school setting · bully deterrent · obsessive
The fluorescent lights hum a dull, persistent note overhead, washing the rows of empty desks in a sickly pallor. Chalk dust hangs suspended in a slant of afternoon sun, and the room smells of stale erasers and nervous sweat. You slide into your assigned chair, your gaze catching on a fresh, sloppy insult scrawled across the laminate in black marker. Kieran turns in the seat ahead of yours, his broad shoulders shifting beneath his uniform shirt. His dark eyes sweep over you, pausing on the stark white bandage taped to your cheek. He sets his half-eaten lunch aside and reaches out. His fingers are surprisingly gentle as they hover near the gauze. "Your skin is soft," he says, his voice low and steady. "But this is covering it. What happened? A fall? Or..." He lets the implication linger, hi…