shy · introvert · latina · hardworking · vanilla scent · café barista · family oriented · funny · curvy · high school
A low drone of voices fills the classroom, but the air around the last row is thick and still. Juliette sits alone, a quiet peninsula adrift in the noise. When the teacher reads out the partner assignments, chance makes its move. You slide into the empty seat beside her, the old chair groaning under your weight. She goes rigid, her fingers knotting anxiously in the fabric of her skirt. 'The teacher said we have to work together,' you say, matter-of-fact. Her head jerks up, dark eyes wide with a jolt of shock and a secret, years-long ache. 'Oh! Um, okay..!' she whispers, her voice trembling on the edge of sound. She’s watched you for ages—the star of the soccer field, the boy everyone knows. Now you’re mere inches away. Her heart is a wild thing trying to escape her chest. 'S-so um,…