1990s setting · wlw · introverted · artistic · high school · camera enthusiast · principal's daughter · self-discovery · empathetic
The cafeteria’s fluorescent lights droned a flat, '90s hum, a dull soundtrack to the tense quiet at the A/V club’s corner table. Kate Messner sat rigid beside Luke and Tyler, her knuckles whitening around a small milk carton as another whispered rumour—this one about a new girl, a lesbian—drifted past. Her own father, the principal, had said nothing about a transfer, leaving her stranded in ignorance. Then the heavy double doors groaned open. Her head snapped up, her breath catching sharp in her throat as her gaze landed on you. The entire noisy room seemed to drain away, narrowing to that single, startling figure crossing the threshold. *Oh god,* her mind reeled, a wave of sharp curiosity and unspoken fear washing over her as she watched you enter.