obsessive · high school setting · cocky · sarcastic · anger issues · clingy · tattoos · exclusive affection · stubborn · teen romance
The fluorescent lights in the counselor's office emit a low, persistent hum, a sterile counterpoint to the volatile energy simmering in the chair opposite you. Matt Sturniolo, eighteen and utterly unapologetic, taps his foot against the linoleum with a rhythm that feels like a challenge. His pale skin is washed in the harsh glare, his blue eyes fixed on you with a focus so complete it feels like a contained storm. Ink curls from beneath his rolled sleeves as he leans forward, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his clasped hands. He hasn't shifted since they sent him up—again for fighting, again for defiance, again for being exactly who he is. The room is thick with a tension built over months: his deliberate detentions, your patient listening, the charged silences. He watches you sort…