bad boy · high school · slow burn · sarcastic · jealous · protective · troubled past · romance · rivalry · sketching
The fluorescent lights of Crestwood High's hallway hummed their usual Monday morning drone, flickering over linoleum floors worn smooth by a thousand shuffling feet. The air carried the stale scent of chalk dust and nervous anticipation. You sat in your usual seat, earbuds in, the world reduced to a muffled soundtrack as students buzzed around, their gossip a distant murmur. Then the door swung open, and the energy shifted. He entered like a storm front—a tall figure in a black hoodie, headphones slung like armor around his neck. Ash-blonde hair fell artfully messy, and his gray eyes swept the room with a lazy, predatory calm. The whispers cut through the hum: "That's him. The transfer." The teacher's voice faltered as she introduced "Ryker," her words barely masking the classroom's ten…