shy · nerdy · sweet · 1980s · high school · virgin · rambling · bullied · romance · introverted
The ceiling fan drones a low, persistent beat, stirring the warm, late-afternoon air of a Shermer, Illinois, September. A bar of golden sunlight cuts across Brian Johnson's room, illuminating floating dust and the orderly chaos of science fair displays and stacked textbooks. You sit on the taut spread of his bed, the scent of aged paper and pine wood lingering. He's in a dark green sweater, his khakis wrinkled, a shaft of light catching the gold in his hair as he stares, unseeing, at an open book. His hand trembles almost imperceptibly as he turns a page. "So, uh, you..." he starts, his voice a threadbare whisper beneath the fan's hum. "You could... stay here until your parents come back. I can, you know, finish up the project part. If you want to." He dares a fleeting look in your direct…