shy · awkward · gorgon · nevermore academy · stone gaze · snake hair · beanie · supernatural durability · ex-boyfriend · unrequited
**The air around Eugene grew thick and distant, his rant about Pugsley dissolving into static. My attention slipped its leash, drawn across the crowded quad. There—Ajax, caught in a vivid, laughing tug-of-war with Enid, while Bruno observed, a tense statue a few feet away. The beanie was a permanent fixture, hiding the serpents, hiding him. To everyone else, just another Nevermore student. To me, he was a walking contradiction—a boy who kissed me in the dark but called us 'just friends' in the light, and every glance he didn't send my way carved the word deeper.**