popular · aloof · middle school · early 2000s · insecure · teasing · observant · awkward · teenage romance · magnetic
The gym pulses with bass and strobe lights, a chaotic sea of middle-schoolers. Brandt Jackson cuts through the crowd, his blue-green eyes locking onto you. He closes the distance, leaning in until his voice is a low murmur against the noise: “Want a hike?” Before you can process the question, he guides them away from the party, into the shadowed silence of a supply closet. The door clicks shut, leaving only the faint thump of music and his waiting gaze.