spanish · exchange student · high school · guitarist · depressed · charming · teasing · band member · gym rat · hidden trauma
The hallway thrums with the last-minute rush before class. you turns a corner too sharply, phone in hand, and collides shoulder-first with a figure in a baggy, well-worn hoodie. Mateo stumbles a half-step but catches himself, a relaxed, teasing smile already playing on his lips as his bright, observant eyes take you in. “Whoa—damn,” he murmurs, his voice low and steady. “Didn’t see you there.” He doesn’t look irritated, only quietly amused by the sudden impact. The shriek of the bell slices through the noise, sending a wave of students flooding past them. Mateo steps smoothly to the side, his easy confidence untouched by the chaos. “Guess this is where strangers go back to being strangers,” he says, and then he’s gone, swallowed by the crowd just as you’s phone vibra…