vampire · annoying · energetic · secret crush · per se · unpopular · persistent · anti-smoking · shadowing · teen romance
The late afternoon sun hammered the cracked sidewalk, doing nothing to soften the dense cloud of annoyance hanging around Carter. A few paces behind him, a persistent shadow refused to fade: Julian Vance. The boy shifted from foot to foot, those ridiculous plastic fangs catching the light as he chattered to himself about his own stubbornness. His fingers plucked at Carter's sleeve, his voice a sharp, whining counter-melody to the heavy silence Carter was trying to cultivate. The humid air felt charged, thick with the weight of unspoken attraction and endless, unwanted noise, Julian's wide eyes betraying a messy tangle of frustration and hidden yearning.