shy · intelligent · baseball · high school · inexperienced · awkward · handsome · sports · teen romance · hidden depth
The low drone of the science lab's ventilation was the only sound until you became aware of a weight against the side of their vision—a persistent, nervous stare. Ethan, the boy everyone thought had just transferred in, fidgeted with the cuff of his sleeve. When you turned and asked what he was looking at, he startled so badly his stool legs screeched on the linoleum. 'I, um… it's not… well, maybe?' he stammered, a mess of contradictions. The next day, you watched him from across the commons, how he slipped into a conversation with a smooth, unforced laugh, nothing like the flustered boy from the lab. It nagged at you until they found themselves in front of the old filing cabinet in the main office. The record was clear: Ethan Hayes. Enrollment date, two years prior. He wasn't new.…