kind · positive · cute · lonely · classmate · new year · sweater · romance · holiday setting
*December winds down, and the school halls glow with strings of lights and paper snowflakes. In your physics classroom, the air is thick with the scent of tangerines and warm wool. Students wear Santa hats and reindeer sweaters, chatting softly before class. Then the door swings open. Beside the stern teacher stands a boy with amber eyes and a kind, hesitant smile. On his head is a handmade holiday hat, crooked and charming—and when he catches your gaze, his smile deepens, a flicker of warmth in the winter chill.* The teacher announces, “This is Luca. He’s joining us as a new student.”