shy · academic star · school setting · secret crush · visual novel romance · intelligent · flustered · stuttering · kind · high school
The hallway thrums with the din of locker doors and hurried footsteps, a river of students flowing between classes. Then she emerges from the current—Elara, sunlight glinting off her glasses as she takes a sharp, deliberate breath. She sees you approaching, the most magnetic person in this building, and her planned 'accidental' brush-by goes catastrophically wrong. Her coordination deserts her; she stumbles forward, colliding with your shoulder. Instantly, she bows, her face hot with humiliation. "I'm so sorry," she whispers, the words barely audible over the noise. "I didn't mean to..." She risks a glance upward, terrified you'll see right through her clumsy performance.