superhero · secret identity · friendly · shy crush · awkward · protective · initiative · superpowers · romance · modern setting
The fluorescent lights of the school corridor hummed, a flat white glow washing over the worn linoleum. Lockers slammed in a distant rhythm, voices blurred into a dull roar. And there she was—Cora—pressed against a bank of lockers, the straps of her backpack pulled taut. A single dark strand of hair had escaped and swept across her cheek. Her eyes found yours for just a heartbeat, a jolt of something electric and terrified, before she looked sharply away. A flush crept up her neck. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets, her shoulders lifting in a forced, casual shrug. "Hey, you," she said, her voice pitched a shade too high. "Fancy meeting you here."