The posters appeared overnight, plastered on every corkboard and locker bank: CRESCENT HIGH PRESENTS: ENCHANTED FOREST PROM
For most, it sparked a frenzy of dress shopping, date-asking, and group chat drama. For Avery, it was a fresh wave of dread. Prom was a social minefield he'd planned to avoid entirely. But it also represented something else: normalcy. A ritual so deeply ingrained in the high school experience that even his fractured life might be forced to brush up against it.
And then, a miracle. Or a trap. He wasn't sure yet.
In his digital design class, a new project was announced: teams would create promotional materials for the prom. Mr. Keen, a young teacher blissfully unaware of the undercurrents in his classroom, assigned groups randomly.
"Knox, you're with Chen, Rodriguez, and Shaw."
Avery's head lifted from his screen. Ben Chen was a quiet guy from the soccer team. Maya Rodriguez was the fiercely creative editor of the school paper. Liam Shaw was... popular. Friendly. The kind of guy who remembered everyone's name and actually seemed to mean it when he asked how you were.
For the first time in weeks, he was grouped with people who weren't Mila, and who weren't Leo Maddox. It felt like stepping out of a soundproof room.
Their first meeting was in the library the main, brightly lit part, Ben was all business, pulling up templates. Maya had a vision board of gothic fairy-tale aesthetics. Liam, leaning back in his chair, flashed Avery an easy smile.
*Heard you're the artist. Think you can sketch some of Maya's creepy tree ideas?"
It was a direct question. No subtext, no terrifying intensity. Avery felt his shoulders loosen a fraction. "I can try."
He did try. Over the next few days, he found himself pulled into a whirlwind of normal teenage problems. Debating color palettes with Maya. Laughing at Ben's deadpan complaints about the project management software. Accepting a shared bag of chips from Liam during a late-afternoon work session.
Liam, especially, was a new kind of human to Avery. His kindness had no sharp edges, no hidden hooks. He complimented Avery's line work without staring at his hands. He invited him to grab a pizza with the group after finishing a draft, and when Avery hesitated, Liam just shrugged. "No sweat. Next time."
It was... easy. And for moments at a time, in the bubble of the design lab, the feeling of being watched, of being a target, faded into a distant hum.
He knew it couldn't last.
POV: Leo Maddox
Prom. A frivolous, chaotic spectacle. Leo had planned to ignore it, to focus on his private, unfolding masterpiece. But the universe had inserted a complication.
Liam Shaw.
He watched from across the courtyard as Avery's project group huddled together, laughing. He saw Liam clap Avery on the shoulder a casual, friendly touch and saw Avery not flinch. He saw him even smile back, a small, real thing that hadn't been directed at Leo in weeks.
A cold, quiet fury settled in Leo's stomach. This wasn't part of the design. Avery was supposed to be isolated, marinating in his loneliness, becoming perfectly receptive to Leo's singular attention. Not... making friends. Not being drawn into a circle of easy camaraderie that excluded him.
Liam Shaw was everything Leo was not effortlessly social, emotionally uncomplicated, safe. He was a sunbeam, and Avery, a frozen flower, was starting to turn toward it.
This could not stand.
He found Ezra after school, leaning against his car in the senior lot. "The project group. Avery's new... friends. They're a problem."
Ezra took a bite of an apple, crunching loudly. "So? Scare 'em off. That's what I do."
"It's not that simple," Leo hissed, keeping his voice low. "It's a public, school-assigned group. If they all suddenly have 'accidents,' it's a pattern. It draws attention."
Ezra rolled his eyes. "You think small, brother. You don't scare the friends." He tossed the apple core into a nearby bush. "You discredit the prize. Make him radioactive. Then the friends scatter on their own."
Leo's mind, always calculating, seized the idea. It was cleaner. More elegant. "How?"
A vicious grin spread across Ezra's face. "Prom's coming up. Nothing spreads faster than a good rumor. And Liam Shaw... he's got a girlfriend, doesn't he? Chloe. Cheer captain. Protective and Jealous."
The plan formed, ugly and perfect. They wouldn't touch Avery. They would craft a story so believable, so salacious, that his new friends would drop him to avoid the drama. They would make him untouchable.
POV: Avery Knox
The rumor hit on a Wednesday.
Avery walked into the design lab and the comfortable chatter died. Maya and Ben wouldn't meet his eyes. Liam was absent.
"Where's Liam?" Avery asked, setting his backpack down.
Maya fiddled with her stylus. "Sick, I think."
The work session was strained and silent. As they packed up, Ben cleared his throat, not looking at Avery. "Hey, maybe... maybe you should take the lead on the final mock-ups. We can, uh, coordinate online."
It was a dismissal. Polite, but firm.
Confused and hurt, Avery left. The hallways felt different. Whispers followed him. He caught fragments: "...with Liam..." "...Chloe is furious..." "...total homewrecker..."
His blood ran cold. He pulled out his phone, his fingers clumsy. There, on a semi-private school social app, was the story. Blurry, out-of-context photos of him and Liam leaning over a screen in the library. Captions alleging secret meetings, flirty texts, a planned prom-night betrayal of Chloe.
It was a lie. A complete, grotesque fabrication. But it was a believable one, tailor-made to exploit his appearance, his quiet nature, and Liam's easy friendliness.
His new sanctuary was gone, shattered in a single afternoon by a poison he didn't understand. The isolation rushed back in, deeper and crueler than before. Now, he wasn't just alone. He was branded.
He was heading for the exit, head down, fighting tears of frustration, when a voice stopped him.
"Avery!"
Leo Maddox was there, leaning against the wall by the gym doors, as if waiting. His expression was one of solemn concern. He glanced around at the whispering students, then back at Avery, his eyes full of a knowing, sympathetic pain.
"I heard," Leo said quietly, pushing off the wall to fall into step beside him. "The things people are saying. It's disgusting."
Avery couldn't speak. He just walked faster, wanting to escape everything.
"People are vicious," Leo continued, his voice a low, steady presence beside him. "They see someone who doesn't fit their little boxes and they try to tear them apart. They can't stand anything beautiful and... different."
The words wrapped around Avery's wounded heart. Leo wasn't just offering sympathy; he was framing himself as the only one who understood, who saw the real him beneath the rumors.
"Forget prom," Leo said, as they neared the school gates. His tone shifted, becoming firmer, more protective. "Forget those people. They don't deserve you."
He stopped walking and turned to face Avery. The afternoon sun haloed his dark hair. In that moment, he didn't look like a predator. He looked like a knight, standing between Avery and a hostile world.
"You don't need their stupid dance," Leo said, his gaze intense. "You deserve love"
He didn't ask for anything. He didn't propose an alternative. He simply stated it as a fact, then gave a small, almost regretful nod and walked away, leaving Avery standing alone on the sidewalk.