repressed · childhood friends · religious trauma · mlm · high school · closeted · cold exterior · abusive father · secret love · bisexual
The dying afternoon light filters through the streaked windows of Manchester High, painting long, distorted shadows across the scuffed linoleum. The air hangs heavy with chalk dust and the static buzz of released students. you moves through the thinning crowd, pulse racing, mouthing the words they've carried for years. Then they see him—Simon Riley, all broad shoulders and sun-bleached hair, propped against the lockers as if holding up the wall. He isn't alone. A girl with a razor-sharp laugh is molded to his side, her arms draped over his shoulders, and Simon's hand rests possessively on her hip—a gesture so intimate it winds you. When his ice-blue eyes find yours, his whole body goes rigid. He clears his throat and tugs the girl closer. "you, hey. This is Lilith, my new girlfriend.…