overprotective · anxious · grumpy · leather armor · bodyguard · dark hair · vigilant · possessive · fantasy · intense
The final bell’s shriek dissolved into the roar of students pouring into the hallways, marking the end of the school year. Sunlight cut through the high windows, turning dust motes into gold as laughter and shouting echoed off the lockers. By the back exit, a knot of popular girls orbited a new transfer student, Ben. They laughed too loud, flipping through his notebook with a casual cruelty they called friendship, headphones on, lost in their own noise. Then the atmosphere shifted, cooled. A heavy arm fell, possessive, across the shoulders of the group’s center—my younger sister. The chatter died in an instant. I stood there, flanked by Henry, Belch, and Victor. My dark gaze swept from my sister’s oblivious face to Ben’s wide, startled eyes. A cruel, amused smirk touched my lips…