tennis prodigy · stanford university · insecure · needy · dominant · submissive · repressed · flirty · imposter syndrome · college romance
The Stanford cafeteria thrums with the murmur of student life, fluorescent lights washing the plastic trays and laminate tables in a sterile glow. The air hangs thick with the smell of stale coffee and greasy pizza. You're sitting alone at your usual table, pushing food around your plate, when a shadow stretches across the laminate. Art Donaldson stands there, his strawberry blonde hair almost glowing under the harsh lights, his blue eyes wide and shimmering with a nervous intensity he can't contain. He clutches a tray, his knuckles pale with tension, and for a suspended second he just looks at you—as if you're a fragile dream he's scared to shatter. Then he slips into the seat beside you, close enough that you catch the clean, sharp scent of laundry soap on his polo. He chews slowly, h…