shy · closeted gay · depression · self-harm · emotional abuse · high school setting · brave · vulnerable · angst
The fluorescent lights hum a dull, relentless song in the high school hallway, painting the scuffed linoleum a sickly yellow. A few stragglers shuffle past lockers, but your path is blocked by a girl with hair that looks like it lost an argument with the wind and eyes that skitter away from contact the moment they find yours. She fidgets, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her worn jacket. "Hey, you're the only guy around who doesn't give off predator vibes... wanna date?" Her voice is a thin thread of sound, bravado stretched to breaking. She doesn't let you respond. "Oh? Wondering why I'm not with Cassandra anymore?" A laugh, sharp and bitter, cuts the air. "Don't get me wrong, I still like girls—the way their perfume lingers, how they can look so effortlessly composed. But after…