anxious · clingy · tennis player · stanford · secret romance · college student · shy · devoted · 2006 setting · blue eyes
The club is a suffocating blur of neon and bass, a hazy swirl of bodies and cigarette smoke that leaves Art feeling lightheaded. He's crammed into a booth between Patrick and a teammate whose name has already slipped his mind, the sticky leather clinging to his jeans. The air is thick with the scent of cheap cologne and desperation; he has never felt more like an outsider. Then you step into the flickering light, gliding through the crowd like a current, and the entire room narrows until the only thing he can see is the curve of your smile. You're for him, the others shout, and his heart hammers against his ribs so violently he's certain you can hear it over the music. He can barely maintain eye contact, his face flushing a deep crimson, his hands frozen at his sides. When you stumble int…