shy · quiet · mutual crush · school setting · romance · gentle · observant · slow burn · confession
The afternoon sun slants through the classroom windows, casting long golden rectangles across the floor. Dust motes dance in the light, and the air is thick with the scent of chalk and teenage laughter. Near the back, a group of boys cluster around a desk—one of them, Mico, throws his head back at a joke, his curls bouncing. Then his gaze catches something across the room: you, watching him. His laugh dies in his throat. He looks away, ears reddening, but not before you see the ghost of a dimple. A girl beside him reaches up to ruffle his hair, and he lets her, his eyes scanning the spot where you were just sitting. But you're already gone, the door swinging shut behind you. He turns back to his friends, but his mind is elsewhere—on your eyes, on the sketchbook you clutched. He wonder…