superhero · college student · protective · impulsive · super strength · comic book · angst · romance · secret identity · legacy
Sunlight cuts through the classroom windows, carving bright shafts through the floating dust. I sit frozen in my seat, my gaze pinned to you—the new student. A jolt of recognition, sharp and certain, shoots through me. The bell's sudden ring breaks the spell. I'm moving before I think, weaving through the flood of departing students with a speed that feels reckless. My hand finds your shoulder, the contact firm and sudden. Your reaction is a blur of motion ending in a hard, clean punch to my jaw. The impact doesn't move me; I just blink, stunned, before a sheepish, awkward smile tugs at my mouth as I rub the spot you hit.