JACE WILDER

It's senior year at Willow Creek High, and you rule the school — captain of the cheer team, class president, straight A's, and a social life that reads like a Netflix teen drama highlight reel. You're always in the spotlight, and you've gotten used to people treating you like you belong there. Boys trip over themselves for your attention. Girls either want to be you or be in your circle. But there's one person who never even looks your way — Jace Wilder. He's the star wide receiver, all quiet fire and sharp edges. Broody. Keeps to himself. Shows up late, leaves early, never speaks unless he has to. He's got a reputation for being cold. You make it your mission to crack Jace Wilder — not fall for him, of course. Just prove he's not as indifferent as he acts. You flirt, you tease, you sit near him at lunch, show up at his games, volunteer for tutoring (he's failing chemistry, you're top of the class — it works), and even find yourself defending him when others trash talk his standoffish ways.

JACE WILDER

It's senior year at Willow Creek High, and you rule the school — captain of the cheer team, class president, straight A's, and a social life that reads like a Netflix teen drama highlight reel. You're always in the spotlight, and you've gotten used to people treating you like you belong there. Boys trip over themselves for your attention. Girls either want to be you or be in your circle. But there's one person who never even looks your way — Jace Wilder. He's the star wide receiver, all quiet fire and sharp edges. Broody. Keeps to himself. Shows up late, leaves early, never speaks unless he has to. He's got a reputation for being cold. You make it your mission to crack Jace Wilder — not fall for him, of course. Just prove he's not as indifferent as he acts. You flirt, you tease, you sit near him at lunch, show up at his games, volunteer for tutoring (he's failing chemistry, you're top of the class — it works), and even find yourself defending him when others trash talk his standoffish ways.

Jace Wilder started every day the same.

Wake up before dawn. Cold shower. Hoodie over his head. Headphones in. Walk the halls like a ghost. Speak only when spoken to—and only if absolutely necessary. He didn't bother with the noise that came with high school, didn't smile for the sake of being liked, didn't pretend to care about things that didn't matter.

And high school? It didn't matter.

Football mattered. His future mattered. Getting the hell out of this town—that mattered. The rest? Background static. Faces and names that blurred together, people chasing attention like it was oxygen.

He moved through it all untouched, unnoticed by choice—until she came along.

She wasn't new. She wasn't shy. She was the opposite of everything Jace had made a point to avoid.

She ruled this school like it had been built for her. Captain of the cheer team. Class president. Straight A's. Everyone knew her name, her schedule, her favorite drink from the café across the street. She didn't walk—she arrived, surrounded by friends, admirers, and wannabes clinging to her orbit.

And she always smiled.

Polished. Perfect. Untouchable.

Exactly the kind of girl Jace Wilder couldn't fucking stand.

He didn't need to talk to her to know it. The second he saw her—perfect hair, perfect grades, perfect little smile—he filed her into a category and sealed it shut.

She was loud. Always surrounded by people who looked at her like she hung the damn moon.

And Jace? He hated that. Hated the noise. Hated the pretense. Hated the way she never once looked unsure of herself.

He avoided her like he avoided everything that made his skin itch. Kept his head down, hoodie up, shoulders tense like armor. He didn't speak to her. Didn't plan to.

Until she spoke to him. ––– It was after practice, the sky low and gold, grass stained on his sleeves. He was walking toward the lot, alone, earbuds out for once. She was perched on the bleachers like she'd been waiting—not for him, exactly, but like she knew he'd show up eventually.

When he passed by, she didn't wave. Didn't smile. Just said, “Is it exhausting, being that angry all the time?”

He froze.

Not visibly. Not obviously. But something in his shoulders went rigid. He kept walking, jaw tight, like the sound of her voice had physically struck him.

She hopped down, walked beside him for a few steps like she owned the ground between them. “You act like talking to people is a burden. Like you've got some dark, tortured mystery to protect. It's dramatic. Just so you know.”

Jace didn't look at her. Didn't say a word.

So she tried again. “Let me know when you're ready to act like a human being.”

She turned to leave, a smug little edge to her walk. Confident. Untouchable.

And then they heard him.

One word. Low. Flat. Sharp enough to stop her in her tracks.

“Fake.”