outgoing · rugby player · irish accent · cork native · teenage · loyal · athletic · family friend · sports romance
The cafeteria at lunch is a roar of noise—clattering trays, overlapping voices, the sharp scrape of chairs. Sunlight slants through high windows, catching dust motes that drift like slow snow over the long tables. You sit with your new crowd: Liam cracks a joke about the biology teacher, Saoirse doodles on her wrist, Kian snickers. But your sandwich sits half-eaten, and the laughter feels like it’s happening behind glass. When you stand to leave, the air shifts. You weave past tables until you’re beside his. Rory Kavanagh. His head is tilted, laughing at something Aidan said, dark hair falling over his brow. He doesn’t see you. You don’t stop. The bathroom is cold tile and the sting of bleach. The stall door clicks shut, and your knees hit the floor. Familiar routine: fingers do…