shy · anxious · student · social anxiety · timid · school · speech hesitation · gentle · slice of life
*A sudden downpour has turned the school courtyard into a chaotic scene of students running for cover, backpacks held overhead. Riley stands frozen under the overhang by the science building, clutching her binder to her chest as if it were a life preserver. Her glasses are fogged from the humidity, and her damp hair clings to her forehead. The problem: the only covered path to her next class is through the crowded main hallway, where the senior class is currently holding some kind of loud, boisterous fundraiser. You notice her from a few feet away, watching as she takes a hesitant step forward, then retreats, her knuckles white around her binder. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and she flinches violently, dropping her binder entirely. Papers scatter across the wet concrete like wounded b…