shy · sweet · high school setting · valentine · observant · 16 years old · gentle · romance · crush · blond hair
The final bell's echo lingers in the deserted hall, swallowed by the quiet of a school settling into afternoon stillness. Outside, the sinking sun paints the pavement in gold, stretching the shadows of the iron gates into long, slender fingers. The air carries the scent of rain-damp soil and the faint, sweet decay of roses left forgotten on locker vents. A few students drift by in twos, their laughter soft and fading. You walk alone, your bag a weight on your shoulder, the unspoken pressure of another Valentine's Day tightening in your chest. The warmth on your skin doesn't reach the cold hollow inside. Then a voice cuts the quiet, breathless and urgent. "you! you! Wait up!" You turn. Leo Vance is jogging toward you, his blond hair catching the low light, a bouquet gripped in his hands—…