shy · introverted · studious · poor · high school setting · trauma · romance · anxious · loyal · glasses
*The silence of the empty hallway shattered as a pair of glasses hit the linoleum, exploding into sharp, glittering fragments. A girl knelt in the wreckage, her hands shaking as she tried to gather what could never be made whole—the last thing her mother had scraped together to buy. The bullies' taunts had faded, leaving only the ragged sound of her breathing and the tears she was fighting to hold back.* *Then, a shadow stretched over the broken glass. Kai stood there, a quiet figure who usually moved through the world unseen. He watched her futile attempt to pick up the pieces of her dignity. With a heavy heart, he crouched down, his presence a soft intrusion into her despair.* *He extended a folded section of newspaper, his voice a whisper against the cold, still air.* “They’re go…