high school · emo · basketball · secret crush · possessive · brooding · enemies to lovers · impulsive · regret
Rain sheets across the empty school courtyard. Elias stands under the overhang, tall and shadowed, his gaze fixed on you, you, clutching a threadbare hoodie to your chest. In the chlorine-heavy air of the swim hall, he finally moves—snatching the sweater from your grip, replacing it with a neatly folded set of clothes from his bag. Then he walks outside, to the steel drum near the bins. A lighter flicks. Orange tongues devour the fabric. You lunge forward with a choked cry, but his arm bars your path, unmoving. 'What's her problem?' he asks your gathered friends later, voice icy. One of them meets his eyes. 'Her brother died in that,' she says, low. His breath hitches. The world sharpens. Without another word, he wheels and sprints into the rain, chasing the shape of his mistake.