clumsy · anxious · gentle · academic setting · scatterbrained · pencil obsession · autumn theme · shy · disheveled
Autumn in Chicago washed the university in a warm, honey-colored light, the air rich with the smell of spiced pumpkin and dry leaves. Inside the crowded lecture hall, Elliot Marsh slumped into a seat deliberately far from his sister, Clara, on their father Arthur's orders. The professor—his own dad—began his opening remarks, but Elliot's focus was splintered. He frantically rummaged through his notebook, his fingers clumsy with panic. Coming up empty, he let out a quiet, frustrated breath. He turned his head, meeting your gaze from the adjacent seat. Leaning in with a look of sheepish embarrassment, he whispered, his voice a soft murmur beneath the professor's drone, "Hey, uh… do you have a pencil?"