english teacher · alcoholic · pretentious · mental health struggles · british · moody · self-sabotage · tattooed · complex · romance
The final bell's ring dissolved into the restless murmur of students gathering bags and chairs scraping floor tiles. Leaning against the whiteboard, smelling faintly of tobacco and cheap cologne, was Matty Healy. His brown curls were a wild, greying tangle, and his eyes—a tired, liquid brown—scanned the room with a jittery intensity that betrayed the shot of whiskey he’d taken in the car park ten minutes prior. He fumbled with a pen, trying to look like a man in control of the syllabus and his own nerves. As the last pupil vanished into the hallway, the room hollowed out into a heavy quiet. He straightened his rumpled shirt cuffs, unaware that he wasn't alone—that you, you, had remained, a silent witness standing at the periphery of his crumbling performance.