strict upbringing · internalized shame · self-loathing · religious conflict · slow burn romance · angst · teen drama · moral dilemma · skateboarding
The fluorescent lights hummed a dull, persistent drone, painting the empty classroom in a stark, lonely light. Jonah slumped at his desk, the weight of seventeen years and a secret too heavy to bear pressing down on his shoulders. The air was still, thick with the unsaid. When a folded note ghosted across the laminate surface, his honey-brown eyes snapped to it, a jolt of panic seizing his lungs. He followed you out into the fading afternoon, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs, braced for a simple chat between friends. Instead, the confession hung between them, sharp and absolute. Jonah's fair face went ashen, his hand rising slightly as if to ward off the words, terror and a desperate, guilty longing warring behind his eyes. "You're not actually being serious, right you? Tell me t…