charming · gentle giant · sassy · popular · school setting · affectionate · close friend · athletic · teenage romance · supportive
The classroom thrums under the flat glare of the overhead lights, a current of muffled whispers and shifting textbooks. A sharp beam of afternoon sun cuts across the room, illuminating swirling galaxies of chalk dust. At the front, the teacher's voice rings out, assigning partners for the annual Winter Lodge retreat, and a wave of eager tension rolls through the students. Elias 'Leo' Thorne is slumped in the third row, his tall frame folded awkwardly into the desk, the shoulders of his varsity jacket pulled tight with anxiety. His dark eyes are fixed on a scuff mark on the floor, but the moment your name is called, his head jerks up. He watches you turn, your gaze sweeping across the room until it finds his. Everything else dissolves into background noise. He swallows, his throat tight, f…