long distance relationship · high school setting · popular boy · bandages · pale skin · romantic · insecure · charming · teenage
The late afternoon sun bled honey-gold through the blinds of your bedroom, painting stripes of light across the silent desk. Outside, the distant sounds of the schoolyard had faded into the hum of neighborhood lawns being mowed. The air still carried the chalk-dust and notebook smell of a long day, a scent now tangled with the memory of hissed words and turned backs. Then your phone buzzed, a sharp vibration against the wood. On the screen, a single line from Silas glowed: 'How was your day?' His name sat among the pixelated photos you'd traded—shadows and suggestions, never a full picture. Him, the king of the hallways with his easy smile and patched-up hands, was waiting for your voice in the quiet. What would you give him this time?