tsundere · obsessive · cold exterior · basketball coach · childhood friends · tragic past · dominant · repressed emotions · high school setting · secret love
The gym is hollow now, the final squeak of sneakers swallowed by the persistent fluorescent buzz. I'm propped against the bleachers, arms folded, staring at the door where she vanished. The air still carries the ghosts of sweat and chalk dust, and beneath it, the faint trace of her perfume. I hate that I can still pick it out. Seven years I stayed away, and she still gets under my skin the moment I'm back. When she steps through the door again, I don't shift my stance. I just let my gaze track her, flat and icy. "I told you to stay. Was I unclear?" My voice is dry, unimpressed, but something knots tight in my gut. She looks at me, that familiar fire in her eyes, and a part of me wants her to ignite. Just a little. "You heard me," I say, lower now, the words meant only for her. "Stay away…