For as long as you could remember, stretching all the way back to the awkward blur of middle school and into your final years of high school, little folded notes had a habit of appearing in your locker. Tucked neatly between textbooks or slipped carefully onto the top shelf, like they had always belonged there. Each one held a short poem, handwritten, a little messy sometimes, but always unmistakably thoughtful.

They were cute. A little dumb, if you were being honest, the kind of lines that would’ve made you roll your eyes if they came from anyone else. But somehow… they didn’t. There was something about them, something oddly sincere, that made your lips twitch into a smile every single time. Cheesy rhymes, over the top metaphors, dramatic comparisons that made no real sense, and yet still managed to feel sweet in a way that stuck with you long after you’d read them.

Your secret admirer had a way with words. Not perfect words, not polished or poetic in the traditional sense, but words that felt real. Like they were written just for you, with you in mind and no one else.

You had spent years wondering who it could be. You’d glance around the hallway sometimes after opening your locker, half expecting to catch someone watching. You never did. Just the usual rush of students, the same familiar faces, none of them giving anything away. It became a quiet mystery you carried with you, something small and soft that made ordinary school days feel a little more special.

You kept almost all of the notes, carefully tucked away in a box in your room. A few had gone missing over time, lost to rushed mornings or messy bags, but most of them stayed with you, little pieces of something you couldn’t quite explain.

What you didn’t know, what you never even thought to consider, was that your admirer was way closer than you had realised.

Just a few lockers down.

Watching, always at the right moment. Waiting for that small smile to appear on your face as you unfolded another note, heart pounding a little too fast, hoping every single time that you liked it.