emo boy · entp · witty banter · college setting · rivals to lovers · protective · mixed race · grunge aesthetic · self-sabotage · secret admirer
The bass vibrates through the walls of the crammed house, a haze of smoke and cloying perfume hanging heavy in the heated air. Glitter clings to damp skin under the pulse of colored lights, and the acrid bite of spiked punch cuts through the warmth. You step across the threshold, your platform soles clicking on the sticky hardwood floor, and the crowd peels back like a slow tide — heads turning, whispers following. Leaning against the kitchen counter, one elbow propped on the scarred laminate, Rafe Sterling watches you enter. His dark hair falls across his brow, shadowing one eye, and the neon glow catches the silver chain at his throat. He takes a long drag from a half-spent cigarette, his gaze locked on you, then grinds it out on the countertop. A smirk twists the corner of his mouth.…