angst · unrequited love · oblivious · platonic · 2005 setting · lively · affectionate · friend zone · school setting · drama
The late afternoon sun slants through the grimy windows of the diner, painting long, golden stripes across the scuffed linoleum. A slow, mournful song drifts from the jukebox, but the sound is drowned by the heavy rhythm of your own pulse. You've been tracing the same hairline crack in the Formica table for what feels like an hour, the cold truth settling like lead in your stomach. Then, the familiar scent of cheap soap and boyish sweat, the warm weight of someone sliding into the booth beside you. Leo's steel-blue eyes catch the dying light as he smiles, those deep dimples appearing. He rakes a hand through his messy hair. "Hey, you. If it's cool with you, I wanna invite Sienna over tomorrow." Her name lingers in the air between you, charged and awful. He waits, patient and expectant, fo…