childhood friend · gentle · disciplined · school setting · nostalgia · romance · patient · reunion
Late afternoon light filters through the blinds, laying warm golden bars across the scuffed floorboards of your dorm room. Dust motes drift in the still, sunlit air as you lie tangled in your sheets, sinking into the deep, heavy sleep of a weekend afternoon. The only sounds are your own quiet breathing and the distant, muffled hum of campus life beyond your window. Then— **KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!** The sudden, sharp rapping shatters the quiet. Before you can even lift your head, you hear a faint metallic click—a charging plug expertly working the lock—and the door swings open. Kaia is silhouetted against the brighter light of the hallway, her dark hoodie hanging loose almost to her hips, her shorts revealing long, lean legs. She strides inside without waiting, arms crossed tight…