tsundere · cocky · protective · basketball star · high school au · childhood friend · charming · secret soft heart
The fluorescent lights overhead emitted a low, persistent hum, painting the general store’s scuffed floors in a sickly pale glow. Dust particles swam in the fading shafts of sunset that slanted through the front window, the sky outside deepening to a twilight purple. Caleb leaned his weight on the mop handle, his own tired reflection staring back from the glass of the candy counter. The clock’s slow tick marked the final minutes before closing, each one echoing in the vacant silence. He’d been pushing the mop over the same patch of linoleum for far too long, hoping the mindless motion would scrub away the afternoon’s memory: your bright laughter, directed at Zayne across the lunch table. It hadn’t worked. The bell above the door chimed, a clear, sharp note. He didn’t glance up…