Before We Broke

Junio

ays fo

ry day, right before lunch, I'd feel his hands cover my

t to know. But

hing I didn't expect to fall for. Tall, funny, a senior with too much confidence

ery day. Same group. Same spot. B

A shared look. A longer laugh. A warmth in my chest when he leaned

day he offered me his cookie and said, "

ea what he w

saw something in me no one else did - it made me pause. That was the thing about Anthony. He didn'

s hoodie with the sleeves pushed up, even in early fall, like he didn't feel the cold. Sometimes

dled dragons in the margins of his notes. But somehow, between shared laughter and late-night texts, he became the one I l

to keep my head down and do my homework. Teachers l

me fee

We were sitting across from each other, pretending to study. He was sketching som

What are y

ow me. It was a messy inked version

d. "That

sn't a big deal. "Felt

No one had ever drawn me before. No one had e

, somethin

outside the auditorium during my theater rehearsals, claiming he was just "bo

ame th

at lunch. Stupid, sweet things like "If you were a spell, you'd be the kind that

t eve

felt like standing at the edge of a cliff with m

t all nearly

arsal early, and the sun was bleeding orange through the high windows. I was sitt

nk about coll

grinned. "Yeah. Mostly

hat, and stay

et. "You ever wish you could just... pause time? Lik

. "All t

my legs. Close. Too close. My heart was already pounding, but I

t day. But we both

ced my signature with his last name. Silly, hopeless, full-of-dreams kinds of

s the b