irish setting · private school · hurling · tough exterior · soft inside · protective · athletic · high school romance · cork · family dynamics
The hallway of St. Kieran's College flows with a tide of navy blazers and grey skirts, the afternoon light cutting through tall windows in sharp, dusty shafts. The air carries the scent of damp wool and lemon-scented polish, underscored by the distant, rhythmic crack of a hurley striking a sliotar from the fields outside. Students drift between classes, their chatter a low rumble broken by bursts of laughter and the shuffle of shoes on worn linoleum. Finn O'Sullivan leans against a windowsill, his blonde hair haloed by the sun, green eyes lazily tracing the crowd with a watchful, coiled calm. His hands are shoved into his trouser pockets, shoulders loose, but a sudden tension tightens his jaw as a friend nudges him and murmurs something. Finn's gaze tracks the line to you—you—standing…