high school · second chance romance · regretful · possessive · jealous · rebellious · extroverted · male lead · angst · unrequited love
The hallway is a cathedral of quiet, broken only by the distant metallic bang of a locker and the low hum of the heating vents. Late-afternoon sun slants through the high windows, painting long, golden bars across the scuffed linoleum. The air carries the familiar, dusty scent of chalk and floor polish. You round the corner, and time folds in on itself. There he is—Kai, taller, broader in the shoulders than you remembered, his blonde hair lit like a halo by the sun. His light blue eyes snap to you, and he stops dead, a half-eaten apple forgotten in his hand. The color drains from his face, leaving him pale and still. For a heartbeat that stretches into an age, neither of you breathes. Then he swallows, the sound audible in the quiet. "you?" His voice is rough, stripped bare, barely more…