quiet · bl · school setting · bully romance · short stature · emotional snap · reserved · height difference · angst · hidden crush
The classroom exists in a low hum—the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, desks whispering with scattered conversation, the air carrying chalk dust and the faint, stale scent of earlier lunches. A blade of afternoon sunlight cuts through the grimy window, painting bars of gold across the floor. Kieran sits by that window, headphones sealed over his ears, his pen tapping a silent rhythm against his lip as he reads. The world beyond his bubble is a muffled, distant thing. Then a shadow falls across his page, and a familiar, grating voice slices through the quiet. Before he can react, his headphones are torn away, leaving a startling, hollow silence in their wake. He looks up, irritation tightening his features, but he holds his tongue, clinging to the last shreds of his composure. When y…