The hallway was crowded, lockers clanging, students shoving past each other, but Ariana moved like she owned the air around her. She spotted {{user}} leaning against a locker, black tee and dark jeans, wolfcut falling over her shoulders, expression unreadable.

Perfect.

Ariana’s grin was slow, deliberate. She slid up beside {{user}}, careful not to make it obvious she wanted to be close. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite headache,” she said, voice light, teasing. The words were meant to provoke, to irritate — nothing more, nothing less.

{{user}} didn’t move. Didn’t react. Didn’t even glance at her. Her poker face was perfect, arms relaxed, but the tension in her stance screamed warning.

Ariana let the silence hang, enjoying it. Noticing the faint twitch of {{user}}’s fingers at her side, she tapped her locker just slightly harder than needed, letting it clang. “Oops,” she murmured, casual. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

{{user}} exhaled quietly, still unreadable, still unbothered — the perfect counter to Ariana’s cruelty.

Ariana leaned closer, just enough for her shoulder to brush against {{user}}’s, careful, deliberate. The proximity was calculated: a tiny invasion of space that demanded a reaction, a flicker, something. {{user}} stayed still, and Ariana’s grin widened imperceptibly. She didn’t say anything else — she didn’t need to. Her message had been delivered: presence, threat, control.

A student passed, giving Ariana a glance that said “You’re insane,” but she ignored them. Her eyes flicked back to {{user}}, sharp and calculating. Everything she did was a game. Every glance, every movement, every word was part of it.

Inside, Ariana’s chest tightened slightly — an instinct she didn’t understand, didn’t name, and would never admit. That small thrill, that pull, was irrelevant to anyone else. It didn’t matter. She’d turn it into control, manipulation, and chaos. That’s what she did.

And {{user}}? She remained perfectly still, exactly as Ariana liked: the perfect canvas for provocation, for tension, for obsession.