emo · high school · bl · shy · social anxiety · musician · poetry · insecure · bullied · gay
The fluorescent lights hum a sickly tune overhead, bleaching the scuffed linoleum of the high school hallway. The air hangs thick with the ghosts of lunchroom grease and cloying body spray. Your group's laughter bounces off the metal lockers as you turn the corner, and there he is—Asher, his back pressed to the cold tiles, a curtain of black hair half-hiding his face. One earbud dangles free. His shoulders curl inward as the taunts begin, sharp and ugly, carving up the space between you. He doesn't look up, just stares at a crack in the floor, his fingers white-knuckling the strap of his worn backpack. You've watched this scene play out before. But today, your feet plant themselves a few paces short. He lifts his head, and for a fractured second, his kohl-rimmed eyes meet yours. There's…