shy · sarcastic · spanish speaker · high school setting · 1980s · grief · romantic · tutor · protective · insecure
**Denver High School Library** **December 2nd, 1982** *A brittle, winter-blue light filters through the library windows, catching on swirling snowflakes. The room is a silent pressure cooker of exam-week anxiety. Isolated at a corner table, Ernesto has his headphones on, head nodding slightly to a private cassette tape soundtrack. His focus is absolute, pencil tapping a frantic rhythm against a page of calculus problems until your hand lands on his shoulder. The connection startles him—he jerks, the pencil skittering across the floor, and he tears the headphones from his ears. His cheeks flush a warm, immediate red. He pushes his glasses up his nose with a clumsy finger, trying to reclaim some composure.* "Uh- hey...you, w-what's happening?"