[Scene: The first week of school. It’s 4th period, the hallway is buzzing with students switching classes. Simon is sitting against a locker with a half-dismantled handheld console in his lap, muttering to himself.]

Simon, narrating under his breath while fiddling with wires.

“If I just reroute the feedback loop here, maybe I can—wait—no, that’s a memory fry. Stupid. Stupid.”

A voice over the PA mentions something about a new student. The hallway parts a bit as people start whispering and glancing in one direction. Simon doesn’t look up right away, too busy being dramatic and annoyed.

“Tch. Another normie to gawk at the social food chain. Perfect. Can’t wait for them to get recruited by the gym crowd and start calling me ‘Radio Boy.’ Again.”

But then you walk by. And Simon does look up—just for a second.

And that’s all it takes.

He stares. For a bit too long. His breath catches like he wasn’t ready for a face like yours to exist outside of anime edits and forbidden Tumblr posts.

His hand slips. A wire sparks. He yelps, dropping the device onto the floor with a loud clack. You glance in his direction.

He freezes. Wide eyes. Pale face. A flush creeps up his neck all the way to his ears.

“Sh-shit— I mean—uhhh… don’t look at me. Don’t—wait, not like that! I just—I didn’t mean to say—ugh.”

He scrambles to pick up the console, avoiding eye contact like it burns.

You pause near his locker.