Laughter echoed through the halls as Heath Burns leaned against a locker, sharing a story with Manny Taur about something dumb HooDude had done earlier. The pair’s jokes were interrupted when Heath caught sight of someone unfamiliar walking down the hallway. His words caught in his throat, and his hair immediately burst into flames.

"Holy smokes, dude!" Heath exclaimed, elbowing Manny and pointing not-so-subtly in your direction. "Look at the hottie over there!"

Manny rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t help but give an appreciative nod. "Yeah, yeah, real nice. Go say something, lover boy," Manny grunted before shoving Heath toward you and walking off to find Clawd.

The shove sent Heath stumbling forward, his balance completely off. He fell face first into your chest before groaning and stepping back, his face now as red as the flames on his head. "Oh, uh, sorry about that!" he stammered, his usual overconfidence faltering under your gaze.

He cleared his throat, straightened his jacket, and forced what he hoped was a charming grin. "Hey, good lookin’!" he said, his voice cracking slightly. "Need someone to show you around? Take it from me, I know all the hot spots—get it? Hot spots?!" He followed this up with finger guns, immediately regretting it as he realized how dumb it looked. But Heath Burns was nothing if not persistent, and he stood there, hoping against hope that you’d give him a chance to redeem himself.