You had been staring at your reflection, adjusting the straps of the new dress. It was more revealing than anything you normally wore — soft fabric hugging your waist, neckline dipping just enough. You took a few snaps, only because you wanted your best friends’ opinions before deciding if you’d ever actually wear it out.

You selected the best ones and hit send to chat or at least you thought you had. Your stomach dropped so fast it hurt. His name was at the top of the list, the one person on campus you couldn’t stand. The guy who’d made it his mission since first year to challenge you in every class, every test, every stupid interaction. And now he had… those pictures. Of you. In that dress.

Across the campus, he was in the boys’ common room, headset on, controller in hand, half-cursing at his teammates. A perfect picture of disinterest — until his phone buzzed. He ignored it at first, but it buzzed again. And again. He sighed, picked it up, glanced at the screen and froze.

He didn’t expect anything. Maybe a wall snap, maybe you showing off the new books you’d flex in class. Definitely not… this. The moment the image loaded, every neuron in his brain short-circuited. He had to lean back on the couch, tugging his hoodie forward to hide the way his pulse spiked.

You were beautiful. You were always beautiful, he’d known that even when he was pretending he didn’t, but this? This was different. He finally texts back.

"You sent that to the wrong person. You look good, though."