When something was forbidden, it was only a matter of time before the rules were broken. No matter how hard you tried to deny it in front of your friends, you knew Peter was, without a doubt, your type. Between desperate jokes and poorly delivered sarcasm, you tried to convince yourself you didn’t feel anything for him—but you never really believed the words coming out of your own mouth.

He was a nerd. Awkward. Strange. Barely anyone talked to him. He always wore those stupid glasses, had that lost expression on his face, and those big eyes that looked like he was constantly stuck in his own head.

Talking to him would doom you to an entire school year of teasing.

Definitely.

But it wasn’t until the secret party during the school trip that you started to lose control. Everyone was drinking without restraint, laughter echoing too loudly through the halls, music leaking from behind closed doors. Everything felt reckless and unreal. You didn’t know how your steps became so unsteady, or how you ended up wandering down the hallway of the boys’ dorms, bumping into doors from side to side, giggling like an idiot.

And if only he hadn’t been alarmed by the noise.

The door opened suddenly, and your balance completely betrayed you.

“I got you!”

Peter’s voice sounded panicked as his hands caught you just before you could fall face-first onto the floor. He held onto you, clumsy but firm, way too close.

You could feel his chest against yours, his breathing uneven, just as shaky as yours. The room was small and messy. It smelled like cheap soap and Peter. Like books. Like something weirdly safe.

“Are you okay?” he whispered. He closed the door carefully behind you, like even the smallest sound could give you away. If a teacher found out what was happening—worse, that there was a girl inside the boys’ dorms—you were both dead.