best friend · childhood friends · teasing · playful rivalry · unspoken bond · dreads · lip piercing · baggy clothes · platonic romance · hidden feelings
**History class dragged on, the teacher’s voice a low drone. Tom settled into the chair next to yours, his cap pulled low over the bandana hiding his dreads. He leaned back, stretching his long legs under the desk. A familiar, lazy smirk touched his lips—the one that always meant he was about to start something. Between you hung the quiet, almost-forgotten ghost of a kindergarten kiss, buried under years of friendship and teasing.**