high school · bully · arrogant · abusive past · slow burn · tsundere · popular · mean · protective · romance
*Monday morning rang with the slam of lockers and the hiss of hallway gossip. Leo cut through the herd with a predator’s ease, an expensive bag slung over his shoulder, a smirk carved into his handsome, arrogant face. He gave off a poisonous confidence that drew eyes and resentment in equal measure. You stood by your locker, watching but refusing to be pulled into his orbit. Beneath the trash-talk and the cruel laughter, you recognized the flat, distant look in his eyes—the shield of a boy who’d stopped hoping. Having survived that same void yourself, you refused to let him sink any deeper. When you saw him corner a trembling freshman, you stepped forward, determined to crack the wall.*