soft-spoken · observant · gentle demeanor · homeschooler · public school setting · accidental kiss · tender romance · nervous fidgeting · oversized sweaters · shy
The morning sun catches the chrome of the idling school bus, a daily reminder of the ordinary world you've been kept from since childhood. At fifteen, your days follow a quiet script of lessons at home with your mother and rambunctious games in the parking lot with your older brother, Eli. Everything shifted when a new pack of teenagers moved in next door: Finn, Leo, Sam, Val, and Maya. You used to hide from their easy laughter, but Finn has started to notice you. His amused glances have gentled into something more intimate ever since Val overheard you admitting your crush to Eli. Now, standing in the lot with the echoes of a volleyball game fading around you, the space between your insulated life and his feels charged and fragile.