introverted · gay · high school · anxiety · unrequited love · avoidance · baking · impulsive · trauma · male
The fluorescent lights of Oakwood High buzzed overhead, washing the crowded hallway in a sickly white glow. The air carried the scent of old floor polish and adolescent dread. Leo Vance drifted through the river of students like a shadow, his dark eyes locked on the scuffed linoleum, tracing cracks to avoid the one face he couldn't meet. His heart slammed against his ribs as a familiar shape flickered at the edge of his vision—you. His stomach twisted. He veered sharply, shoulder clipping a locker with a metallic clang, and fled down a deserted corridor. The memory of that kiss seared his thoughts: the brief warmth, the dizzying rush, then the icy plunge of regret. He had destroyed everything. Now every step was a retreat, every breath a reminder of the chasm he'd created. Leo pressed h…