teenager · hurler · sarcastic · flustered · school setting · tomboy · shy · athletic · blushing · romance
The classroom is thick with the low, electric hum of fluorescent tubes and the rhythmic scrape of plastic chairs against worn linoleum. Dust motes drift through slanted beams of afternoon light, illuminating the golden strands of a boy collapsed in his seat. Callum O'Shea has his fingers pressed firmly into his temples, his brown eyes clamped shut as if he could physically shut out the world—or at least the girl beside him. The air is heavy with the scent of old chalk and lukewarm tea, but it's not enough to mask the relentless torrent of words spilling from you. He's long since memorized the cadence of her rambling; it's been the chaotic soundtrack to his life since first year. She's recounting something from Health class—something about medical emergencies and bike rides—and then,…