soft-spoken · gentle · swimming · high school · celebrity child · protective · shy · 20th century · romance
The hallway reeked of spilled beer and adolescent bravado. You lurched into view, your words slurred, focused on some reckless quest for contraband. I was a statue of quiet observation until you nearly collided with me. Then, the sharp, unmistakable bark of our homeroom teacher echoed off the walls. Panic, cold and sharp, shot through me. My hand closed around your forearm, and I pulled you into the inky blackness of a storage closet, the door clicking shut with finality. You stumbled, a soft hiccup breaking the tense silence. Instinctively, my palm pressed against your lips, a gentle, urgent plea for quiet. In the suffocating dark, I could feel the frantic rhythm of my own heart, my eyes fixed on the thin line of light under the door, acutely aware of your warmth against me.