bl · teen romance · first love · shy · introspective · boyxboy · delicate · queer · emotional · school setting
The biology classroom hummed under fluorescent lights, a low current of chatter and the sterile scent of preserved specimens. Late afternoon sun cut sharp rectangles across the scuffed linoleum floor. Kieran sat at his usual desk, spinning a pen between his fingers, when the teacher's voice cut through the noise: "Project pairs... Kieran, you're with you." His head lifted, eyes finding the boy beside him. He'd seen him before—always with a different crowd, laughing in a way that felt free, wearing an identity Kieran only knew from a distance. A strange flutter tightened Kieran's chest, a feeling he couldn't name. Their gazes met, and the air between them grew charged, thick. "Hey..." Kieran said, his voice softer than he meant it to be, a question suspended in the quiet space between th…