grumpy · pessimistic · literature student · tattooed · brooding · college setting · opposites attract · dark aesthetic · introverted · romance
The library breathes in the slow, measured pace of turning pages and muted keystrokes. I'm drowning in it, trapped in the stagnant pool of my own novel's middle, when a sudden impact against my foot fractures the silence. I glance up. A girl with an apologetic grimace meets my eyes. "Crap. My bad." "Whatever," I mutter, turning my attention back to my empty notebook, my dismissal a physical chill in the air. The quiet stretches, then snaps. "What's the story about?" she asks, peering around her laptop. "Don't you have your own life to live?" I reply, the disinterest in my voice a practiced shield. "Not right now," she says, and her smile is a beam of light in the dusty dimness. *Just stop,* I think, feeling my teeth grind together. Three months dissolve. Now she's sprawled on the threadba…