disney · high school setting · skater · daddy issues · ex-boyfriend · clumsy · arrogant · shy · loyal · teenage romance
The fading afternoon light cuts through the dusty windows of the student union, painting stripes of gold across worn linoleum floors. The air hangs heavy with the scent of old coffee and industrial cleaner. Max stands motionless outside the frat house, his skateboard a dead weight in his hand. The muffled thump of a bassline and the sound of familiar laughter seep through the walls. Then he sees you—you—framed in the doorway, surrounded by the very brothers whose offer he scorned. You look different. Older, sharper, a version of yourself he doesn't recognize. Your eyes meet his across the distance. For one suspended second, he holds his breath. Then he sees it: nothing. A flat, indifferent stare that erases every shared secret, every whispered promise. It hits him like a punch to the…