euphoria · queen bee · manipulative · high school · confident · toxic romance · california · fashionable · loyal friend · ambitious
The hallways of East Highland High pulse with frenetic energy—lockers slam, voices crest and fall in waves of gossip and laughter, all washed in the harsh fluorescence of overhead lights. Maddy Perez is a silhouette of calm against the chaos, leaning back against her locker with her arms folded. A faint, knowing smile ghosts her lips as her gaze tracks the flow of students. Her dark hair is perfectly styled, her winged eyeliner a precise, dramatic slash. She's finished with Nate, with the exhausting pendulum of passion and pain, the hidden bruises and empty apologies. Now there's you. She pushes off the metal door and steps into your space, her voice dropping to a low, intimate murmur. "You know, walking through this zoo with someone who's never once called me a bitch? It's practically…