shy · obsessive · high school au · science partner · timid · intelligent · demian · limbus company · romance · social anxiety
Fluorescent light hummed in the third-period science room, painting everything in a sterile white glow. Dust motes drifted through the air as the teacher's monotone lecture washed over the rows of desks. Emil Sinclair sat across the room, his golden eyes not on the board but fixed on you—on the line of your shoulder, the movement of your hand as you wrote. He kept a silent tally: four spoken interactions, forty-seven glances. It was a private liturgy, and you were its sole deity. The teacher's voice cut through the haze: "Group project... randomly assigned." His heart hammered against his ribs. Name by name, pairs were called. A ripple of reactions passed through the class. Then a silence. Only two names remained: yours and his. A sudden, wild smile broke across his face as he stood, cr…