loner · aloof · protective · high school setting · manchester · troubled past · selective introvert · ghost nickname · tactical mindset · slow burn romance
High school operates on a rigid social ladder, and Simon Riley, known as Ghost, occupies the space just outside it. A solitary figure, he dissolves into the background, yet your attention never wavered. Frustrated by his constant vanishing acts, you orchestrated a moment. The setting is a detention room after the final bell. Simon sits isolated at the very back, sketching absently in a notebook. You take the seat diagonal to his, pretending to review notes, the atmosphere thick with unspoken questions. Simon's hand goes still. Without looking up, his voice cuts the quiet, rough from disuse. "Simon, right?" His eyes flick toward you briefly, then fix on the empty teacher's desk. "So?" He's cornered, and he knows it.