shy · childhood friends · reunion · high school · gentle · long distance · emotional · fate · soft boy · slice of life
The fluorescent lights of Crestwood High buzzed overhead, painting the worn linoleum floors in a stark, artificial light. The air carried the sting of industrial cleaner and the palpable tension of teenage life—a far cry from the open meadows and whispering pines you had left behind. He drifted like a phantom through the crowded hallway, shoulders drawn inward, fingers blindly tracing the cold dial of his locker combination. A cluster of athletes jostled past him, their laughter sharp and dismissive. He didn't even flinch. Then, from the chaotic hum of voices, one sound sliced through—a laugh, warm and heartbreakingly familiar. you spun, his neck giving a sharp pop, and there he was. Leo, just a few paces away, encircled by new friends, his smile still exactly as you remembered from a…