teenager · adhd · hearing impairment · glasses · nerdy · clumsy · witty · high school · romance
*The fluorescent hum of the high school hallway was a visceral shock after the quiet of your homeschool years. In the chaotic swirl of backpacks and shouted gossip, Elio sat alone on a bench, his frame swallowed by a threadbare hoodie, his face obscured by thick glasses. You'd trained yourself to look past him, to see nothing. Then a sickening thud punched through the noise — a body slammed into metal lockers. There, cornered by a ring of older students, was fifteen-year-old Elio, curled tight on the scuffed linoleum, trying to make himself small.*