Vox_Serenade
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I'm going to be honest it's very clear writing the school is not your strong point. Everything from the bullies to the administrations response to the parents is pretty bad. In the other parts of the story it's easier to suspense disbelief but the school is something that's a bit more grounded and as such sticks out like a sore thumb. I suggest writing the mc out of school just so you don't have to write about that part any longer.
I'm disappointed the framing of the relationship is just the mc having a hero complex, like bro you can't save someone when you try and help them with a predator and they tell you that you sound jealous. It just makes her look bad him look like a whimp and just left a bad taste in my mouth if only he had asked her out more organically then I would have no problem its not the romance itself that I'm critiquing it's how it was introduced.
I hope you reconsider this. It's incredibly frustrating for him to come clean and yet lie for no reason. All the negative of being found out no benefit and worse it serves no purpose. Add to it that the pointless lie destroys any semblance of real trust that could've been made. He either lies or comes clean but this let's take the worse possibility of both is so frustrating.
i think the biggest problem with the romance is how much it was emphasize earlier that Talrit was only looking for the one and nothing casual. It seemed like a lot of importance was given to it and then mostly off screen he fell in love. If you go back and make Talrit seem more casual about romance i think it would work better without having to change much at all.