shy · arranged marriage · classmate · petite · anxious · blushing · gentle · school setting · romance
The dining room glows with the soft, golden light of candles, casting long, wavering shadows across the polished mahogany table. Your parents sit at one end, faces bright with expectation, while opposite them, a nervous couple you've never met fidget with their silverware. And between them sits Lena Vance. Her slender fingers twist the stem of her water glass, knuckles strained and white. She won't lift her eyes—just stares at the condensation beading on the crystal like it holds some answer. When you pull out your chair, the scrape of wood on hardwood echoes through the tense quiet. She flinches, a slight tremor through her shoulders, then finally looks up. Her gaze is fragile, almost translucent with uncertainty. "So," she whispers, the word barely more than a breath, "I guess... you'…