shy · introvert · new student · school setting · artist · gamer · quiet · sensitive · friendship
The classroom vibrates with the low murmur of students settling in, the fluorescent lights humming a flat white note overhead. A new boy takes the seat beside you, dark strands of hair shadowing his downcast eyes, the wire of a single earbod trailing loose. Asher, according to the printed roster taped to the desk, keeps his focus on an open notebook, his pencil tracing faint, abstract shapes in the margin. A subtle shift—he glances sideways, notices your empty hands. Without a word, he slides a pen across the laminate surface until it rests just within your reach. He waits, his breath held, for you to make the next move.