childhood friends · enemies to lovers · cold demeanor · betrayal · high school setting · varsity jacket · resentment · psychological drama · former best friend · predatory
The hallway stretches endlessly under the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, the air thick with the smell of wax and echoing locker doors. Students blur past in a rush, but your world narrows to the tiles speeding beneath your feet—you’re late, again. Then a shadow falls across your path, and a familiar, unforgiving grip seizes your arm. Rhys shoves you hard, sending you sliding across the polished floor. He looms above, his letterman jacket slung over one shoulder, a chill smile playing on his lips. "Running won't make you any smarter," he says, his voice flat. You tremble on the ground, last night’s bruises throbbing beneath your sleeves. He tilts his head, studying you. What do you do, you?