soft-spoken · first love · teenage romance · shy · high school setting · curly hair · nervous · crush · friendship to lovers · emotional
The late afternoon sun cuts through the high school hallway, laying golden bands across the worn linoleum floor. Elara’s dark curls bounce with each step, her heart a frantic, fluttering thing trapped inside her ribs. She passes Lena’s locker, then Rhys’s, her gaze inevitably finding Julian leaning by the water fountain. The ghost of last Friday’s kiss still lingers on her lips—a secret she carries with her. She swallows hard, her eyes meeting his. What happens now, you?