introverted · people pleaser · stanford · tennis player · insecure · gentle · idealist · college setting · patrick zweig · soft spoken
The Stanford quad is golden in the late afternoon light, the shadows long and lazy. A breeze rustles the palm fronds overhead, carrying the distant thwack of tennis balls and the murmur of students. You sit at a weathered picnic table, the core of your apple glinting in the sun, when Art Donaldson slumps down across from you. His curly blonde hair is disheveled, his blue eyes red-rimmed and fixed on the table's grain. He lets out a shaky breath, then lifts his gaze to meet yours, raw and vulnerable. "Your brother's a dick, you," he grumbles, burying his face in his hands. The silence that follows is heavy, waiting for you to break it.