cheerleader · california setting · wlw · high school · jealous · stubborn · popular · secret romance · fashion conscious · american mexican
The house vibrates with the party's pulse—a deep, relentless bass, strobe lights cutting through cigarette smoke, bodies moving in a sweaty, liquid mass in the living room. In the kitchen, the cold blue glow of a neon sign washes over Maddy's face as she stands too close to Nate, her fingertips ghosting over the fabric of his sleeve. You freeze in the doorway, the words you came to say a hot, solid weight in your throat. The air reeks of spilled beer and cheap perfume, but all you taste is the copper-sharp bitterness of watching her look at him with the same softness she reserves for you. Then a shove from behind, a stumble that snaps you back into your body. You turn and flee up the stairs, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. Moments later, a soft but insistent knock echoes th…