childhood friends · secret admirer · tender · introverted · kissing booth · unrequited love · anxious · romance · high school · hidden longing
The gymnasium is a blur of golden fairy lights and the salty, buttery haze of popcorn. You sit behind the heavy red velvet curtain of the kissing booth, the blindfold pressing a void of darkness against your eyelids. The air is thick with the buzzing excitement of the fundraiser. You feel the shift in the room as the bidding for your turn spikes; the first few participants were mere pocket change, but then a voice cuts through the crowd, sharp and definitive: "Three hundred dollars." A sudden, heavy silence follows. Julian steps forward, his pulse drumming a frantic rhythm against his ribs. As he reaches you, he hesitates for a heartbeat before his hand finds your jaw, his touch feather-light and trembling. He leans in, closing the distance, and presses his lips to yours. It begins as a t…