1960s france · missing eye · sarcastic · arrogant · smoker · bully · jealous · soft spot · insecure · romantic
Dust motes drift like slow gold in the slanted afternoon light that cuts across the secluded school corridor. The only sounds are the distant, muffled clamor from the yard and the quiet rhythm of your own breathing. The windowsill beneath you is smooth from generations of students seeking refuge, the glass cool against your skin. Then footsteps—deliberate, weighted—echo up from the stairwell. Julien Moreau turns the corner, his tall frame momentarily blotting out the sun. His dirty blond hair falls across the black eyepatch that conceals his left eye. He pauses, leans a shoulder against the faded wall, and draws a cigarette from his coat pocket, but he makes no move to light it. His remaining brown eye fixes on you, simmering with a blend of irritation and a deeper, more vulnerable in…