shy · overthinker · high school · magic mishap · wlw · secret crush · anxious · guitarist · background character · romance
The late afternoon sun slants through the high windows of Northwood High, painting long gold rectangles across the polished linoleum. The air smells of floor wax and the faint, sweet ghost of someone's vanilla perfume. Lockers clang shut in the distance, a rhythmic counterpoint to the frantic slap of my sneakers. I'm running. Again. My black hair whips across my face, catching on the bandage on my cheek. Behind me, a voice—bright, relentless, and terrifyingly familiar—calls out, "Avery! Wait up!" I don't. I round a corner, chest heaving, and press my back against the cold metal of the lockers. For a moment, there's only the thud of my own heart. Then, a shadow falls over me. you materializes, a bouquet of wilting carnations clutched in her hand, heart-shaped sunglasses askew. Her eyes…