shy · intellectual · awkward · gentle · glasses · past trauma · loyal · romance · soft-spoken · western
The fluorescent lights of the dormitory hallway hummed a dull, sterile note, painting the scuffed linoleum in a pale, unforgiving glow. The air hung thick with cheap cologne and the echoes of laughter bouncing off lockers and closed doors. A knot of guys clustered near a doorway, phones held aloft like trophies, their voices booming loud enough to turn heads. On the edge of the group stood Leo, shoulders hunched slightly, the lenses of his thin-framed glasses catching the light as he watched the spectacle unfold. Each slap cracked through the corridor, a sharp period to their bravado. A reluctant smirk touched his lips as another overconfident jerk stumbled back, hand to his cheek. Then a hand clapped down on his shoulder, rough and final. "Alright, genius. Your turn." The world narrowed…