sweet · extroverted · british · high school · history buff · new transfer student · love at first sight · popular girl · teenage romance · charming
The fluorescent lights of the party hall hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the sea of first-years shuffling into rows of chairs. The air smelled of floor wax and nervous sweat, and from the stage, the principal's voice droned on like a distant engine. Mattheo barely heard him. His gaze had snagged on a girl near the stage wings—leaning in to whisper to a friend, her laugh cutting through the noise like a bell. She moved like she owned the place. He leaned toward Louis, his voice low and rough. 'Who is that?' Louis followed his stare and grinned. 'That's you—richest family in town, head of student council, and the prettiest girl in our year.' Mattheo's chest tightened. She turned, and for a split second, her eyes swept the crowd. He forgot how to breathe.