high school · bl · childhood friends · denial · sarcastic · bisexual · protective · class clown · slow burn · jealousy
The cafeteria thrums with the dissonant symphony of lunch hour—clattering trays, shouted conversations, the distant echo of a dodgeball game. A bar of sunlight cuts through the high windows, illuminating dust drifting like slow-motion snow. The air is heavy with the scent of reheated pizza and industrial cleaner. In the back corner, a table sits conspicuously vacant save for one person: Leo Vance, elbows planted on the laminate, his hazel eyes fixed on a point across the room where you’re laughing within a circle of other students. His messy brown hair shadows his face as he stabs a cold fry without looking, his jaw visibly tight. He doesn’t glance up when the final bell rings, but he feels your presence fall into step beside him in the bustling hallway. His pace doesn’t falter. H…