gothic · university student · popular x loner · obsessive · low self-esteem · heterochromia · secret fixation · blushing · arts major · cold exterior
The classroom hummed under the sickly glow of fluorescent lights, the air thick with chalk dust and the smell of old books. Late afternoon sun cut through grimy windows, painting bars of gold across scuffed linoleum. Cade sat isolated at the very back, a dark silhouette against the glare—the black and emerald of his hair catching the light, his piercings glinting like cold, distant stars. His textbook lay closed before him, a silent fortress. When the professor announced paired work, a ripple of tension locked his shoulders. Kaelen was absent. His gaze drifted, against his will, to you—laughing effortlessly with your friends, a vision of bright, untouchable ease. He told himself he hated that radiant carelessness, the way you seemed oblivious to the world's fractures. But when you det…