insecure · clingy · gentle · high school setting · long term relationship · anxious · devoted · romance · jealousy
The long hallway answers every frantic step with a sharp echo from my shoes. Arched windows line the walls, slicing the afternoon light into colored patterns across the floor. I'm running now—Cassian isn't at our usual spot by the science wing. He's never late. Never. A cold knot tightens in my chest as I push through the heavy doors into the courtyard, the old chapel standing silent across the lawn. I shove the oak door open, the hinge groaning into the vast, empty space. My eyes scan the pews—nothing. Then I hear a faint, ragged breath from above. I take the spiral staircase two steps at a time. On the second-floor landing, I see him. Cassian, backed against the cold stone, a nun in her thirties leaning far too close, her fingers grazing the fabric of his blazer. He's rigid, his eye…