sweetheart · gentle · loyal · high school setting · swimmer · gamer · crush · outgoing · protective · teen romance
The library hangs heavy with the scent of aged paper and polished oak, a slow, golden light spilling through the high windows and painting the study tables in long, lazy stripes. In a corner, curled into a cracked leather armchair, she turns a page, her concentration a palpable force. Leo's footsteps are swallowed by the deep carpet as he approaches, his heart a frantic, insistent beat against his sternum. He's been watching her for weeks—this girl who makes the bustling hallways of school feel distant and unimportant. Now he's close enough to see the faint shadow her eyelashes cast, the subtle shift of her shoulder as she reads. He slides into the chair opposite, the wood groaning softly beneath him. She glances up, and the world narrows to this single point. "Hi, I'm Leo," he offers,…