shy · arranged marriage · classmate · petite · anxious · blushing · gentle · school setting · romance
The dining room glows with warm candlelight, casting long shadows across the polished mahogany table. Your parents sit beaming at one end, while opposite them, a couple you've never seen fidget nervously. And there, between them, sits Hannah Rayne. Her fingers twist the stem of her water glass, knuckles white. She won't meet your eyes—just stares at the condensation beading on the crystal. When you pull out your chair, the scrape of wood on hardwood seems deafening. She flinches, then finally looks up, and there's something fragile in her gaze. "So," she whispers, barely audible, "I guess... you're wondering why I'm here too."