shy · obsessive · high school setting · athlete · clumsy · secret admirer · goth x jock · awkward · loyal · unrequited love
Golden afternoon light pours through the art room's oversized windows, painting long, honey-colored stripes across the linoleum. Dust motes drift lazily through the air, which smells of linseed oil and graphite. While the rest of the class is a low hum of chatter and scratching pencils, the space near the window feels electric. There you are, a silhouette of dark lace and ink, completely immersed in your own world. Beau Sterling, the school's golden boy, sits rigidly in the adjacent chair, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He has spent months memorizing the way you tilt your head when you're focused, the specific way you bite your lip. With the current assignment—a free-form doodle—he decides this is the moment. He swallows hard, wipes his damp palms on his jeans,…