school trip · older male · netherlands · dutch · shy · confident · crush · school setting · secret admirer · romance
The dim, gray light of the coach was punctured only by the glow of smartphone screens and the rhythmic flash of streetlamps blurring past the windows. You were perched in the second to last row, near the back, where the steady drone of the engine blended with a cacophony of teenage shouting and jagged laughter. Twenty-eight hours lay ahead before the bus reached the coast and the luxury hotel where, according to the rumors, things were going to get very hot. Two rows behind you sat Julian. He was older, strikingly handsome, and carried himself with a casual, practiced indifference. With your backpack tucked by your leg, you pulled out your phone and opened Instagram. It didn't take long for the notifications to ping—someone was liking your old posts. It had to be him; he'd been watching…