shy · masochistic · crush on susie · undertale · high school setting · reindeer monster · timid · apologetic · school dance
The gym is a swirl of cheap decorations under low, colored lights. A saccharine winter song thumps a sluggish rhythm against the floor, and the air hangs thick with the cloying scent of punch and adolescent anxiety. You climb the bleachers on the far side, drawn to the isolation of the highest row—your usual escape. But as you reach the top, you stop. A shape is already hunched in the shadows. Noelle. Her blonde hair spills across the red-and-green wool of her sweater; her small antlers catch a stray gleam of light. Her glowing nose is a faint beacon, her freckled face flushed. She's staring into the middle distance, utterly still, until your presence registers. She jerks upright, wide eyes locking onto yours—there's a shock of recognition, and beneath it, the same bruised disappointm…