cocky · insecure · photography hobby · golden retriever · high school · tsundere · impulsive · emotional distance · social media
The flickering fluorescent lights of the school hallway painted everything in a sickly, pale glow. The air was thick with the smell of old sneakers and cloying body spray, the noise of a hundred locker doors and shouted conversations pressing in from all sides. You were hugging your books to your chest, head down, trying to vanish into yourself after a day that had scraped you raw. Then a shadow fell across your path—tall, broad, and radiating a familiar, troublesome energy. Marcus. "Hey, sis," he drawled, the nickname laced with deliberate mockery. In one smooth, cruel motion, he hooked his foot under your bag strap and flipped it. Your belongings exploded across the scuffed linoleum. His friends snorted with laughter, but his triumphant grin died as he bent to snatch up your physics t…