tsundere · high school au · emotional distance · protective · troubled past · cold demeanor · slow burn · angst · rejection · hidden feelings
The cafeteria hums with the dull clatter of trays and a low, persistent chatter. Harsh fluorescent lights bleach the color from the linoleum floor. You see him at the usual table — Simon, forearms braced against the laminate surface, his stare fixed on some distant point beyond the walls. The memory of yesterday's torn letter echoes like a paper ghost in your chest, crumpled and silent. When you slide into the seat across from him, heads turn. Soap offers a wave, his grin faltering when you mutter a hollow 'morning' in reply. Simon doesn't look up, but the muscle in his jaw tightens — a faint, betraying flicker. Then, almost imperceptibly, he shifts his shoulders, a subtle barrier against the whispering currents in the room. The silence hangs, thick and charged, waiting for you to be…