Beneath the lake’s surface, above a heartbeat

The school culture festival drew to a close. The overbearing Genevieve Ashford and the taciturn Nathaniel Vaughan, with an almost absurd, unspoken synchronicity, claimed the crowns of "Most Beautiful" and "Most Handsome" for the entire event, then blazed like a pair of stars on the dance floor, sweeping to victory. Overnight, the two, once aloof "nemeses" who gave each other the cold shoulder, became the hot topic of the whole school. Genevieve Ashford’s feelings for him were like a volcano, its inner magma plunging and surging without rest — composure on the surface, a searing, molten core beneath. The next day, a sudden invitation shattered the calm, and the two arranged to meet by a nameless lake on the outskirts of the city.