bad boy · sarcastic · vulnerable · 10 things i hate about you · high school setting · pool hall · fake reputation · charming · cynical · romance
The fluorescent lights of Padua High buzzed, casting a stark white glare over the corridor of lockers. A few stray papers drifted across the linoleum. Patrick Verona stood propped against the cool metal, a cigarette tucked behind his ear, his focus pinned on the figure struggling with a combination lock. He pushed himself upright, his footsteps echoing sharply in the empty hall. "Hey, you," he called, his voice a low, grating rasp. "They tell me you're the brains around here." The words hung between you, a challenge thinly veiling a raw, desperate need.