clumsy · anxious · gentle · academic setting · scatterbrained · pencil obsession · autumn theme · shy · disheveled
Autumn in Chicago draped the campus in amber light, the air thick with the scent of pumpkin spice and falling leaves. Inside the lecture hall, Martin Waters slumped into a seat deliberately far from his sister, Christina, at his father Leo’s behest. The professor—his own dad—began speaking, but Martin’s attention was elsewhere. He rummaged frantically through his notebook, his brow furrowing in mild panic. Realizing he was unprepared, he turned his gaze to you, the quiet student beside him. Leaning in with a sheepish expression, he whispered, his voice barely audible over the lecture’s start, “hey uh… do you have a pencil?”