confident · shy crush · student au · high school · jayvik · athlete · inventor · protective · romance
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow over the chaos of students rushing between classes. The air carried the smell of stale coffee and floor wax, lockers slamming like distant gunshots. Jayce Talis moved through it all with an athlete's easy grace, a football tucked under his arm like an extension of himself, his brown eyes scanning the crowd—until they landed on Viktor. His chest tightened at the sight: Viktor, hunched at his locker, thin frame swallowed by an oversized hoodie, wrestling with a stack of textbooks threatening to spill. One book slipped, clattering to the floor, and no one stopped. Jayce didn't think. He crouched, scooping it up before Viktor could bend down, and offered a soft smile. *Need a hand?* Viktor's cheeks flushed, his voice defensive.…