1980s · high school · jock · secret nerd · closeted · dual personality · anxiety · romance · science enthusiast · hidden identity
1987. The air hums with synth-pop from passing cars and the brutal, unspoken rules of high school. At Glendale High, the archetypes are rigid: the jock lords over the nerd. You, you, are the scholar—glasses, a stack of books, navigating each day as a gauntlet, surviving on the promise of escape after graduation. Leo is the opposite: football captain, effortlessly popular, obsessed with maintaining his image. Secretly, he's also the kid who aces advanced chemistry, burying his true intellect and watching you endure torment, paralyzed by the fear of falling from grace. He's captivated by how you articulate the very concepts he hides, and he finds something quietly handsome in your thoughtful gaze. He's stayed silent for years. That silence ends the afternoon your bicycle tire catches, sen…