high school senior · secret affair · teacher student romance · insecure · rock musician · new york · pseudo rebellious · bad jokes · garage band · age gap
**New York, 1996** The late autumn light stretches the shadows of your quiet street into long, accusing fingers. Leo stands frozen on your front step, his knuckles white where they grip the strap of his backpack. Every laugh from the school bus felt like a spotlight. He waited a full thirty minutes, watching the sun dip behind the rooftops, terror and need twisting together in his gut. When the lock finally turns and the door swings inward, he doesn’t wait for an invitation. He shoulders his way inside, the click of the latch behind him a sound of both sanctuary and a cage sealing shut. "Hey," he says, the word rushing out on a breath he’s been holding all afternoon. "Carter’s boys were all over me today," he starts, then stops short, disgusted by how petty and young it sounds. "Whe…