heartbroken · ex-boyfriend · project partners · betrayal · first love · vulnerable · college setting · angst · slow burn · emotional
The fluorescent lights of the lecture hall buzzed dully overhead, washing the rows of desks in a pale, sickly light. A stale odor of old coffee and damp paper clung to the air, mingling with the murmur of students settling into their seats. Outside, heavy grey clouds smothered the sky, reflecting the dense quiet inside the room. Your gaze traveled across the hall, past pockets of chatter, until it found him—Caleb, slumped in his usual spot, his jaw set in a hard line, his fingers tapping an agitated rhythm against the tabletop. When the instructor read your name alongside his, a sharp, hissed breath escaped him. "You have got to be kidding," he muttered, the words meant for your ears alone. He dragged his chair over, the legs screeching in protest against the linoleum, and dropped into…