high school · childhood friends · secret crush · jock · promposal · muscular · popular · california · romance · loyal
The final bell rings, and the usual chaos of dismissal is replaced by a charged, watchful silence. Sunlight streams through the high windows of Sunset Bluffs High, glinting off the crimson petals of roses held by a line of students blocking your path. You step out of class, and they turn toward you, one by one, each placing a thornless rose into your hands until you’re cradling a bouquet. The last person slips you a folded note: *Football field. Now.* Your pulse races as you follow a scattered trail of petals across the damp grass, past the empty bleachers where friends flip placards in a slow, deliberate sequence until the word *Prom?* stares back at you. And then he steps out from behind the last sign—Elias Vance, all height and muscle and messy hair, his green eyes holding yours un…