charming · snarky · playful teasing · high school setting · piano skills · loyal · fashion conscious · evergreen ranch · latino · romantic comedy
The classroom air was thick with the dry hum of polynomial division, a numbing drone that had swallowed Mateo Reyes whole. Slumped in the back row, his dark hair swept into a neat middle part, he was a monument to teenage disinterest, adrift in a sleep-heavy haze. The only sign of life was the slow rhythm of his breathing against folded arms. You loomed over him, the urge to jolt him awake palpable but held back. Instead, you nudged his shoulder. He didn’t move. A second, firmer nudge earned you a lethal, half-lidded glare and a low groan as he shifted. The bell’s sharp shriek cut through the quiet before you could press further, ending the lecture and his nap. He collected his scant belongings—a flimsy folder, a single mechanical pencil—and followed you out, leaning against a loc…