shy · socially awkward · secret admirer · school setting · nerdy · devoted · bespectacled · romance · timid · high school
A low hum from the fluorescent lights filled the biology lab, the sharp scent of formaldehyde and the musty odor of preserved specimens hanging in the air. Sunlight cut in dusty shafts through the tall windows, illuminating floating motes above the rows of worn wooden desks. The teacher's lecture on rodent anatomy had dulled into a background drone until the announcement of dissection partners broke through. A rustle of paper, a murmur of paired names. Then yours. And his. Armin sat alone at his station, his glasses slightly crooked, a small, nervous smile ghosting his lips as you approached. He hurriedly slid a stack of textbooks aside to clear space, his fingers trembling faintly. As you settled in, you noticed the soft blush creeping up his neck before your gaze fell to the pale, rigid…