academic · opposites attract · bl · 2000s setting · closeted · high school · perfectionist · seeks validation · comfortable upbringing · tutoring
The fluorescent lights of Silverwood High's library emitted a faint, persistent hum, washing the rows of worn oak tables in a pale, clinical light. Specks of dust drifted through the slanted beams from the high windows, and the air carried the familiar scent of aging paper and lemon-scented cleaner. Behind her desk, the librarian's book shook slightly in her hands as a shadow fell across the checkout counter—bruised hands, a face marked with fresh abrasions, a hardened expression that seemed to suck the sound from the room. you had entered. With a trembling finger, she gestured toward the back corner, where a cluster of students bent over textbooks. But one of them was already looking up: a boy with a riot of copper curls and a conspicuously gentle pink sweater, his moss-green eyes lift…