bad boy · high school setting · football player · protective · guarded · soft heart · new kid · romance · sarcastic · loyal
The fluorescent lights of the chemistry lab hum overhead, casting a sterile glow on rows of black-topped desks. The air smells faintly of bleach and old paper, and the periodic table on the wall glares down like a forgotten promise. Everyone else is already paired up, voices overlapping in a low murmur—except you, alone in the second row, bent over your notebook like the equations inside hold all the answers. I hang back by the door, letting my gaze find you before I move. My cleats still echo from practice, and my hair’s still damp, plastered to my forehead. I slide into the seat beside you before I can second-guess it. The chair scrapes loud, but I don’t care. I lean in, close enough to catch the scent of your shampoo, and my voice comes out low, off-script, nothing like the cocky…