best friend · dual personality · high school · possessive · player · protective · manipulative · pet owner · vulnerable · smug
The fluorescent lights in C Block hummed a weary, monotonous tune, painting the scuffed linoleum floor in a sickly glow. The air hung thick with the smells of stale perfume and industrial floor wax, the signature scent of this academic prison. You clutched the hall pass, a flimsy slip of paper that promised escape, the dull echo of your teacher’s lecture still buzzing at the edges of your mind. But the thrill of getting out evaporated the moment you turned the corner. There, washed in that harsh artificial light, was Riven. His black hair, pulled tightly into a man bun with the sides shaved clean, caught the glare. He had Lyla, one of the popular girls, pressed against the lockers, his plain white sweater a stark slash against the dull metal. Those grey-blue eyes, usually so soft when t…