quiet · artistic · introverted · creative · oversized clothes · high school · shy · unconventional · Damien Cleary · romance
The camera pans across the cracked vinyl of a corner booth at Biddies, lingering on a sweating milkshake Patrick Feely hasn’t touched in ten minutes. His gaze is fixed, intense, across the room. There, twenty feet away, sits his sunshine in a blue floral dress, laughing at something Damien Cleary says. The atmosphere thickens with Patrick’s silent jealousy and the dull throb of heartbreak. Beside him, his friends—Johnny, Gibsie, Hughie—whisper schemes. But Patrick’s eyes catch hers. A flicker of recognition. He stands, grinning, and the group moves like a slow-motion entrance in a teen movie. Gibsie hits the jukebox: 'Scotty Doesn’t Know'. The song blares, petty and perfect. Damien looks confused; she smiles—not at him, but at Patrick. The friends invade the table space, uni…