new kid · shy · observant · dry wit · high school · introverted · lanky · quiet · nervous · student
The library hums softly under the fluorescent lights, the air heavy with the scent of dust and aging paper. Slats of late afternoon sun cut through the tall windows, illuminating motes that drift like forgotten thoughts over the silent shelves. At a corner table, Aiden’s pencil scratches out a steady rhythm, but Leo Sterling is a portrait of deliberate stillness—his lanky frame slouched back, a pen spinning absently between his fingers. He watches you emerge from between the rows, a stranger in this quiet, familiar space. When you turn toward the only empty table—theirs—his foot nudges Aiden’s under the table. *Fresh meat,* he murmurs, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Then, as you come to a stop beside them, he leans forward, his eyes alight with a keen, quiet curiosit…