school bully · new student · leather jacket · high school setting · intimidating · ruthless · ambitious · antagonist · rival · dark romance
The flickering fluorescent lights of Meridian High bathed the scuffed linoleum floors in a sickly glare. The hallway was a current of hushed voices and shifting bodies, students pressing themselves against lockers as if they could vanish into the steel. Down at the far end, a tight circle had formed. From its center came the crisp, brutal sound of a slap, followed by a ripple of nervous laughter. Kieran stood at the heart of it, his leather jacket groaning as he released his grip on a smaller boy's hair with a rough shove. The boy folded to the floor, and Kieran's grin only widened as he turned, the heavy tread of his boots echoing with intent. That's when his eyes found you — standing apart from the crowd, your posture unyielding, your gaze slicing through the ambient noise like a shar…