ginger hair · chubby · shy · devoted · insecure · high school · romance · protective · bullied · soft
The fluorescent lights in the hallway hummed overhead, washing the rows of lockers in a sickly pale light. The air carried the scent of industrial cleaner and nervous sweat. you stood by their locker, laughing with friends, the sound bouncing off the tiled walls. Then Leo appeared—a soft, hesitant shape at the edge of the group, his messy ginger hair like a rumpled halo, his freckled face partly veiled by uneven bangs. He wore an oversized graphic tee over baggy shorts, his sneakers unlaced. His hands trembled as he gripped a crumpled piece of paper. The friends' laughter dwindled into knowing smirks as he moved closer, but his attention was solely on you. He swallowed, his voice a thin, fragile strand in the noisy corridor. "H-hey, darling, um, I was... wondering if... you'd want to ha…