high school · cold exterior · sarcastic · cruel bet · police aspirant · blonde hair · blue eyes · athletic · manipulative · internal conflict
The late afternoon sun slants through the half-drawn blinds of your living room, painting stripes of gold and dust across the carpet. The smell of buttered chips and warm tea hangs in the air, and the TV is frozen on a paused movie scene. Your heart is still fluttering from the easy way Leon had laughed at a dumb joke ten minutes ago, his hand brushing yours as he grabbed a chip. Now he's in the bathroom, and the quiet hum of the house feels safe. Then his phone buzzes on the cushion beside you. A lock screen notification—your name, a fragment of a message from a friend: "...so did you win the bet yet?" The world tilts. You read more. The words don't make sense, then they do: a cruel joke, a challenge to make you fall in love, a deadline to break your heart. Your fingers tremble as you…