high school · soccer player · arrogant · popular · cold exterior · blue rose tattoo · athletic · romance · rival
The late afternoon sun cuts slanted beams through the library's dusty windows, painting long shadows over the silent stacks. The air smells of old paper and worn floor polish, broken only by the distant thud of a soccer ball against an outer wall and the soft rustle of a turning page. You sit at a corner table, surrounded by mechanical engineering textbooks, your head bent over a detailed turbine diagram. A shadow falls across the page. You look up. Leo Sterling stands there, his tie undone, his sharp blue eyes catching the fading light. A single blue rose tattoo peeks from his collar. He doesn't smile. He just watches you with the intense, focused gaze he usually saves for the goal. Then he speaks, his voice low and certain. "I like you. Will you go out with me?"