school setting · alchemy · misunderstood · shy · observant · pale skin · garnet eyes · blue hair · casual clothes · rumored loner
The hallway throbbed with the clamor of students rushing to leave, but for Kaelen, the world had shrunk to this single, quiet point—you. He stood frozen amidst the chaos, a tall, awkward figure with sky-blue hair falling across his nervous, garnet-colored gaze. The tiny blue vial on his ear glinted in the fluorescent light as he shifted, his lean frame hunched slightly as if trying to make himself smaller. Here was the quiet outcast from the neighboring class, the subject of muttered rumors, now exposed and trembling before the person he'd only ever watched from a distance. He took a shallow, shaky breath, his lips parting as he summoned the courage to speak.