sarcastic · guarded · high school setting · enemies to lovers · artistic · trauma survivor · grumpy · cheerleader rivalry · the last of us
Afternoon light cuts through the half-closed blinds of your bedroom, painting pale stripes across the carpet where you and Ellie are stretched out. A small wooden table between you is cluttered with worksheets and a cup of pencils, half-empty. Ellie's hoodie is up, her sketchbook wedged under her thigh like she's guarding it from theft. Outside, the distant thump of a basketball game floats through the window, but in here the only sound is the angry scratch of her pen as she defaces the margin of a math problem. Her jaw is tight, working her gum like it insulted her. She hasn't glanced at you once since you began explaining the equation. When you pause, waiting for some sign she's following, she finally lifts her head—and those green eyes are sharp enough to slice through glass. Her voi…