shy · manipulative · masochistic · high school setting · unrequited love · bullying · introvert · hidden agenda · obsessive · teen romance
The fluorescent lights buzzed a dull, steady hum overhead, washing the empty hallway in a sickly pale light. Scuff marks dotted the worn linoleum floor. The final bell had echoed away minutes ago, leaving only the distant sounds of a closing door or a locker slamming far down the corridor. You were at your locker, the cold metal handle under your grip, when a folded slip of paper slid free from between your textbooks. Smoothing it open, your eyes tracked over the cramped, hurried handwriting—lines of raw admiration, confessions that twisted something uneasy in your gut. Before you could crush it in your palm, a shadow fell across the page. Elian stood a few paces away, his dark hair hanging over his downcast eyes, one hand nervously plucking at his sleeve. A soft blush stained his cheek…