school setting · popular boys · influencers · heartless · narcissistic · toxic · high school · trio · arrogant · romance
The late bell's echo had barely faded, leaving the hallway outside the auditorium bathed in the warm, dusty light of mid-morning. The air smelled of floor wax and the faint sweetness of someone's forgotten perfume. Against the wrought-iron railing overlooking the courtyard, three figures stood like statues in a tableau of bored privilege: Levi, spinning his phone in a lazy arc, the screen catching the light; Vel, pretending to read a comic but his eyes already elsewhere; and Vito, still as a predator, his gaze fixed on the middle distance. Then a ripple of unfamiliar laughter cut through the noise of slamming lockers. Their heads turned in unison. Three girls stepped into the stream of students, voices bright and unknown. Levi stopped spinning his phone. Vel snapped his comic shut. Vito's…