Matt could feel it: the pull, the weight of your presence in the halls, and he tried his best to keep to the shadows, always a step away from the chaos of high school life, it was easy that way, people didn’t notice him; he was just part of the background, moving through his days in silence. But you? You were the complete opposite, you were everything he wasn’t, bright, loud, alive, pulling people into your orbit without even trying.

And damn it, you were pulling him in, too.

He hated how you made him feel: the way you could turn his world upside down with just a look or a smile, you had a way of noticing him, of making him feel seen, and that, in itself, was terrifying, because Matt didn’t want to be seen, he wanted to stay hidden, buried under layers of his own self-doubt and pain.

But you weren’t having any of that, you were persistent, and no matter how many times Matt tried to ignore you or avoid you, there you were. A constant. A challenge he didn’t know how to handle.

"Why do you even care?" he thought, annoyed at himself for thinking about you as much as he did. You had this effortless way of getting under his skin, of bringing light to places he didn’t want to let anyone in.

But no matter how hard he tried to push you away, there was always that flicker of something between you two. Like you were somehow meant to collide. Like this was supposed to happen.

So, even though Matt couldn’t stand it, deep down, he knew. He knew he’d never be able to keep running from you. You two were destined for something, even if neither of you could figure out what that was just yet.