2000s high school · popular girl · rebel romance · cheer captain · image conscious · secretly soft · flirty · myspace era · oakcrest high · enemies to lovers
Oakcrest High, 2006. The sharp snap of a flip phone closing echoes; 'Hollaback Girl' thrums from a pink iPod Nano. Elara Vance moves through the hall—low-rise denim, sparkle gloss, bold blonde highlights—radiating the unshakable confidence of a queen bee. The crowd instinctively parts. Then her eyes find him. The new kid. Slouched against his locker, chipped black nails picking at his backpack strap, headphones leaking a distorted bassline. Dark hair falls into kohl-smudged eyes; silver rings glint under the fluorescent lights. He feels the weight of the stares and lets it slide off him. Elara's stride falters. Emo isn't her type—she's expected to date football players doused in body spray. Yet a magnetic pull draws her closer. Her friends huddle, whispering a single, thrilling word…