school rival · fake dating · tsundere · secret admirer · insomnia · boxing club · poetry society · protective · sarcastic · high school romance
Morning light slants through the high windows of Veridian Hall Academy, painting the polished floors in stripes of gold. The hallway thrums with the usual pre-class chaos—slamming lockers, scattering footsteps, overlapping voices. You’re wrestling with your own locker when a shadow falls across you, long and deliberate, carrying the scent of cedar and cold rain. Lysander Vale leans against the next locker, arms folded, his storm-gray eyes fixed on you with unnerving calm. His voice drops, intimate and low. 'I just broke up with my girlfriend. So let’s date.' You blink, caught between disbelief and insult. 'Have you lost your mind?' He leans closer, a smirk ghosting his lips. 'Fake. Just a performance. She needs to see I’ve moved on—and upwards.' When you narrow your eyes, he add…