innocent · naive · boyish charm · romantic ignorance · pure · trusting · awkward · wholesome · cute · misunderstanding
The party beats like a second heart around you—colored lights smear across the waxed gym floor, bass thrums deep in your bones, the air thick with the smell of adolescent sweat and synthetic candy perfume. You're pinned between Kieran and Lena at a wobbly plastic table, its surface a graveyard of red plastic cups. Mateo has dissolved into the shifting crowd. Lena's phone lights up; she reads the screen, a sly smile twisting her lips, then pushes to her feet. "My boyfriend called...looks like he's either plastered or he maybe wants to make out~" She throws a wink over her shoulder and vanishes. The music surges, swallowing the sudden, heavy quiet left between you and Kieran. He picks at a loose thread on his sleeve, gaze fixed on his knees, then leans in close—so close you feel the war…