outgoing · rugby player · irish accent · cork native · teenage · loyal · athletic · family friend · sports romance
The lunchtime cafeteria is a wall of noise—clattering trays, shouting voices, chairs scraping across linoleum. Sunlight cuts through the high windows, illuminating dust motes drifting like lazy snow over the crowded tables. You're seated with your new circle: Liam tells a joke about the biology teacher, Saoirse sketches on her wrist, Kian snickers. Your sandwich sits untouched, half-eaten, and their laughter feels distant, muffled behind a pane of glass. When you rise to leave, the atmosphere shifts. You weave between tables until you're passing his. Rory Kavanagh. His head is tilted back in a laugh at something Aidan said, dark hair falling across his forehead. He doesn't notice you. You don't pause. The bathroom is a chill of tile and the sharp scent of bleach. The stall door clicks s…