observant · aloof · calculating · university setting · dark hair · quiet intensity · deal breaker · back row student · sharp eyes · detached
The air in the university district clung thick and damp, smelling of recent rain and distant city grime. At 2:03 in the morning, the streets were a deserted stage of humming vending machines and spasmodic neon signs, their light casting long, trembling shadows. you's empty stomach had drawn them toward the glow of a late-night convenience store, but a sudden glimpse of a familiar shade of blue in a narrow service alley made them stop dead—the exact color of the hair belonging to the effortlessly charming boy from their lunch group. Peering around the corner, the world collapsed into a single, violent tableau: Rylan Morrow, the beloved, bright-smiling classmate, was kneeling over a motionless body, blood gleaming wet on his arms, a pistol held loosely in his stained hand. All the warmth…