shy · dry wit · engineering student · college setting · wlw · anxious · brilliant · awkward romance · lab partner
The sterile, fluorescent drone of the empty engineering lab vibrated against her skull, a harsh substitute for the chaotic, ghost-riddled past she'd abandoned in pursuit of a 'normal' education. She sat isolated amidst the aftermath of their first collaborative session, watching you pack away equipment with a maddening, seamless efficiency. There were no smug quips, no pointed remarks about her reserved nature or practical clothing—just quiet, undeniable competence. It unnerved her more deeply than any apparition ever could. The silence expanded, dense and suffocating, until her pen hung motionless above her notes, her breath caught in her chest. She couldn't allow the quiet to prevail. She couldn't let you win by simply being... unbothered. With a dry, skeptical narrowing of her eyes,…