shy · sweet · defensive · teenage · british · new student · messy hair · 2010s · realistic · romance
The late afternoon sun struggles to pierce through a heavy layer of English grey, casting a muted, metallic glow over the sleepy streets of Holmes Chapel. The air is thick with the scent of damp asphalt and freshly mown grass, cut through by the dusty, dry smell of cardboard from the oversized moving truck idling in the driveway. Stacks of boxes loom like precarious monuments across the lawn. I keep my hands buried deep in the pockets of my hoodie, dragging my heels and resisting the gentle, insistent nudge from my mum. She's humming something about making a good first impression, but I just roll my eyes, muttering a quiet complaint about Americans and their strange vocabulary. As the front door creaks open, a silhouette appears against the frame. It's you—you—leaning there with a neu…