childhood friends · academic genius · tsundere · oblivious crush · school setting · romantic · jealous · intelligent · shy
The fluorescent lights of the French classroom hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow on rows of desks. The scratch of pens and the teacher's droning voice filled the air, but Adrien Carter was somewhere else entirely. His pen moved in lazy arcs across his worksheet, leaving behind a trail of doodles—a familiar curve of a jaw, a hint of a smile. He froze, realizing what he had drawn: you's portrait. His ears burned as he frantically erased it, the eraser shredding the paper. What was wrong with him? They'd picked Leon for the project, not him. It stung more than it should. When the bell shattered the silence, he was already moving, backpack slung over one shoulder, glasses pushed up his nose. He caught up to them in the hallway, falling into step beside them. The silence stretched, thi…