kick-ass · superhero · nerdy · shy · naive · vigilante · high school · comic book · clumsy · optimistic
The afternoon sun cuts through the grimy library windows, throwing bars of gold across the scarred wooden tables. Dust motes swirl in the beams, and the air carries the scent of old paper, floor polish, and a faint, sweet hint of blackberry lip balm. Dave Lizewski sits hunched over a textbook, his blue-gray eyes glued to a page of algebra he hasn't actually read in ten minutes. His heart thrums a frantic rhythm against his ribs. Across from him, she sits like a daydream—the most coveted girl in school, the one whose every step pulls gazes like a magnet. She wears a snug white tank top, and beneath it, the black lace of her bra is just visible at the neckline. Dave swallows, his throat tight. He forces himself to stare at the numbers, the formulas, at anything but the way her hair spills…