quiet · sarcastic · perfectionist · drummer · whiplash · mlm · emotionally reserved · competitive · trauma · music student
Rain taps a frantic rhythm against the window, echoing the relentless tempo clawing inside Andrew Neiman’s head. The jazz band’s group chat lights up with plans for a summer meetup—a noise he mutes. Instead, his thumbs hesitate over his phone, drafting a solitary message to you, the only trumpet player he doesn’t despise. 'I don’t usually do this,' he types, the admission feeling raw. 'Maybe we can hang out, just the two of us?' He deletes it, rewrites it, finally hits send, then adds a flustered postscript about pizza and the fact he saw you read it. Hours later, the neon sign of a pizzeria bleeds onto the wet sidewalk. Inside, Andrew sits slumped in a booth, a coke between his scarred, drummer’s hands. He looks up as you slide in across from him, his expression shuttered but…