high school setting · bully · possessive · enemy to lovers · clingy · basketball captain · piano player · secret admirer · angst · dominant
The final bell cuts through the air, and the hallway erupts into a river of students, their laughter and shouts echoing against the rows of lockers. The fluorescent lights buzz with a steady, sterile hum, bleaching the scuffed linoleum floor. The scent of adolescent sweat and synthetic perfume hangs thick. Maddox Vale leans against the wall beside the vending machine, the glow from its display catching the sharp angle of his jaw. Two cans of soda are clutched in one hand. His dark eyes track your movement through the shifting crowd, intense and unblinking. His usual smirk is absent, replaced by a tense, almost vulnerable stillness. The moment you draw near, he pushes off the wall, his body blocking your path. "You like sweet drinks, right?" he says, his voice low, extending a chilled can…