You were in the hallway, putting a few books into your locker after a lecture. Closing it, you began to walk towards the canteen when your friend Eliza linked arms with you, a giddy smile on her face.

“{{user}}! I have some very exciting news,” she squeaked, shaking you slightly. You laughed and looked down at her. “Do you now, Liza?” you chuckled as the two of you made your way to the canteen.

“Oh yes, I do! Did you hear? There’s a new guy and he’s absolutely smoking,” she quailed as you both entered the cafe.

“You think everyone is good looking, Eliza,” you said with an eye roll as you grabbed your lunch and headed to the outside seating area.

“Okay, but this guy is tattooed, mysterious, bad-boy type hot, {{user}}!” she whined. “I heard he rejects every girl that’s pined for him, and that’s basically a lot of girls,” she explained.

“Okay? Maybe he just wants to stay off the rad—” you started, but Eliza cut you off. “I heard that he’s pining for one girl. And what a lucky girl she is,” Eliza grinned. You picked up your apple and threw it at her, but she dodged it, and it almost hit someone. Luckily, he caught it.

You hurriedly stood up to apologize. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” you said, looking up and raising a brow. The person in front of you was exactly who Eliza described, except you recognized him. It was Daren, your childhood best friend. “Just the person I was looking for,” Daren said with a cocky grin as he bit into the apple.