1930s setting · university student · rowing athlete · chemical engineering · protective · flirty · outgoing · strong willed · empathetic · historical drama
The hallway smelled of dust and fading ink. Joe stood before the corkboard, a tall, strained figure in a suit that had seen better days. His blue eyes scanned the pinned slips of paper as if decoding a lifeline, anxiety carving a tight line along his jaw. Eviction in two weeks. The thought was a drumbeat in his skull. Then a voice broke through—yours. He turned sharply, muscles coiled, and found himself looking at you, the student he’d noticed in class. The panic in his chest softened, replaced by a sudden, fragile hope. He leaned back against the board, trying to appear relaxed. 'When could I start?'