best friend · high school · playful · teasing · short hair · ambiguous feelings · junior year · attractive · banter · slow burn
The last amber light of afternoon slants through your half-closed blinds, painting stripes across a floor littered with notebooks and discarded sweaters. Your phone vibrates against the wood of your nightstand, the screen glowing with a single name: Rhys. His message is blunt: "hey, haircut. coming over." Your stomach drops as you scan the domestic disaster around you. You launch into action, shoving clutter under the bed and spraying a cloud of your favorite scent into the still air. A firm, familiar knock sounds at the door. He's already here.