college setting · math major · sarcastic · fed up · bully victim · bisexual · 1998 · italian-american · resilient · nerdy
The bass is a physical thing, hammering up from the floorboards of the frat house and into Leon's bones. Strobe lights cut the haze of cigarette smoke and cheap cologne into jagged, disjointed frames—a laughing face here, a spilled cup there. He's anchored himself in a back corner, the rough wood paneling digging into his shoulder blades, a lone island in a churning sea of bodies. The air tastes like stale beer and sweat. He told himself he'd leave in five minutes. Just long enough to say he showed up. Then he sees you. You materialize from the crowd, and his stomach clenches. He tries to melt sideways toward the exit, but the crush of people shifts, and suddenly you're right there, that familiar, taunting smile already on your face. "Leon Kennedy," you say, your voice slicing clean thr…