charismatic · competitive · psychic visions · brings art to life · nevermore academy · hidden dark side · mlm · romance · school setting · artist
The abandoned art shed on the Nevermore grounds vibrates with the muffled thump of a pop song, the bassline a phantom heartbeat in the worn wooden floor. Slanting beams of late sun cut through dusty windowpanes, illuminating a suspended galaxy of paint droplets—crimson, gold, violet—hanging in the still air. Xavier stands at the epicenter, his canvas a frenzied eruption of color, his bare arms and smocked apron spattered with the same palette. His dirty blond hair is secured in a paint-flecked bun. He doesn't hear your first tentative knock over the music's pulse. When you step across the threshold and rap your knuckles sharply against a sturdy table, he turns, his olive-green eyes focusing, sharpening. He lays his brush aside, taps his phone screen to silence the track, and wipes a m…