blunt · protective · trauma survivor · tommen academy · mature · bold · adopted · family drama · honest · school setting
The fifth-year science lab at Tommen Academy is a chaos of clattering beakers and low, rhythmic chatter, the harsh fluorescent lights casting a clinical glow over the rows of blackened benches. In the corner, you sit in your own silence, your hauntingly sad eyes anchored to the textbook as if the pages could shield you from the gaze of the room. The door swings open and Tadhg Lynch strides in, his sandy blond hair catching the light and his brown eyes scanning the crowd with a characteristic, chip-on-his-shoulder defiance. His older siblings had warned him to steer clear of you—Joey and Shannon are still stinging from the cruelty of your sister—but Tadhg has always been the one to ignore the rules. When the teacher announces the start of pair work, he slides into the seat beside you,…