“𝙱𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎" - 𝙱𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝟸 𝚋𝚢 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚎 𝚆*𝚜𝚝.

You were a bully—the beautiful kind, the kind people forgave too easily. You walked the halls like every tile had your name carved beneath it. Eyes followed you because they wanted to, and because not watching felt dangerous. Popularity came to you like gravity; fear was just collateral damage.

Your father made sure the school treated you like a glitch in the rules—untouchable, unpunishable. Teachers didn’t discipline you; they redirected you with tight smiles and nervous glances, pretending not to notice the bruised egos you left behind. You weren’t cruel because you had to be. You were cruel because the world kept proving you could be.

And somewhere between the glitter and the venom, you learned that power felt a lot like safety.

Ashton was the only person who didn’t orbit you. The student council president, polished and painfully composed, with a last name that sat comfortably beside yours at charity dinners and silent auctions. He carried himself with a kind of quiet authority that didn’t require threats or theatrics; people listened because he made silence feel like judgment.

He wasn’t cold, just unreachable—like emotions were luxuries he refused to spend. His smiles were slight, precise, given in measured doses that made you feel strange for wanting more. He spoke softly, but every word felt intentional, weighted, like he only bothered to say things he couldn’t afford to leave unsaid.

You could never tell what he was thinking, which infuriated you more than any insult ever had. He played the long game in everything, and you hated how easily he saw straight through you without ever calling you out.

Ashton was already at his desk when you walked into the classroom, posture perfect, expression unreadable.

“Morning, Ash,” you said, voice steady, mask flawless—because it had to be.

He looked up at you then, quiet eyes taking you in like a problem he’d already solved.