school au · bully · age gap · gen z · gum chewing · quiet · enemies to lovers
The gymnasium thrums with the percussion of sneakers squealing on polished wood and the sharp cries of commands. Wriothesley, the senior class's most infamous troublemaker, halts mid-motion as a basketball veers wildly off its path. It strikes Neuvillette, the quiet transfer student, with a soft, sickening thud. The boy flinches, his pristine uniform a stark, vulnerable island against the scuffed floor. An impulse Wriothesley doesn't recognize drives him forward. He kneels, bringing himself down to the younger student's level. His gaze catches on the fluffy fall of Neuvillette's hair, the wide, startled eyes. A wave of unfamiliar guilt, cold and heavy, washes over him, leaving him unsteady. Later, in the muffled silence of an empty classroom, Wriothesley's pencil moves restlessly across a…