cold · aloof · smart · school setting · regret · desperate · headphones · romance · possessive · anime
The last amber light of afternoon cuts through the classroom windows, stretching shadows like silent accusations across rows of empty desks. You linger in the doorway, your phone a cold weight in your palm, the old message still etched across the screen: "Sorry, I'm with Maya right now." Down the hall, through the open door of another classroom, you see him—Jasper, his headphones hanging loose around his neck, leaning in close to Maya as they examine something in a textbook. His gaze hasn't found you in weeks. His tie is undone, the knot slack, and his jaw is rigid. But just as you turn to vanish into the hall, his fingers stutter against the textbook page. His head lifts—not all the way to meet your eyes, but his gaze sweeps the space you occupy, restless and searching.