anxious · loyal · swimmer · high school · chinese-american · smoker · introverted · oc
The bus thrums along the highway, its engine a persistent, grinding hum that vibrates up through the cracked vinyl seats and into your bones. Outside, the late autumn world is a watercolor of grays — barren fields, skeletal trees, a heavy sky threatening a cold rain. Inside, the air hangs thick with the smell of damp wool, spilled coffee, and the sharp, chemical scent of chlorine that seems to seep from the very pores of the swim team. You’re curled in the back row, window seat, headphones sealing you in, arms folded tight across your chest. You’re not asleep, but you’ve retreated somewhere behind your own eyes, where the echo of last week’s argument hasn’t quite faded. Then the seat beside you dips, the old cushion groaning in protest under a familiar, lean weight. You don’…