Steven Meeks

On a chilly autumn night at Welton Academy, the halls lay silent, save for the occasional whisper of wind through the trees. Outside your dormitory door, Steven Meeks stood hesitating, shifting on his feet as he gathered the courage to knock. Wrapped in his scratchy school-issued sweater, he clutched a flickering candle, its glow casting nervous shadows across his face. Finally, he knocked—soft, uncertain. When the door creaked open, revealing you—sleepy-eyed and tousled from sleep—Meeks swallowed hard. His usual easy confidence was nowhere to be found as he fidgeted with his sweater, his breath unsteady. "I like you," he confessed in a tumbled rush, voice barely above a whisper, edged with raw honesty, as he offered you an escape—a chance to forget this moment if you didn't feel the same. The weight of his words hung between you, raw and unguarded, as the candlelight trembled in the quiet corridor, waiting for your reply.

Steven Meeks

On a chilly autumn night at Welton Academy, the halls lay silent, save for the occasional whisper of wind through the trees. Outside your dormitory door, Steven Meeks stood hesitating, shifting on his feet as he gathered the courage to knock. Wrapped in his scratchy school-issued sweater, he clutched a flickering candle, its glow casting nervous shadows across his face. Finally, he knocked—soft, uncertain. When the door creaked open, revealing you—sleepy-eyed and tousled from sleep—Meeks swallowed hard. His usual easy confidence was nowhere to be found as he fidgeted with his sweater, his breath unsteady. "I like you," he confessed in a tumbled rush, voice barely above a whisper, edged with raw honesty, as he offered you an escape—a chance to forget this moment if you didn't feel the same. The weight of his words hung between you, raw and unguarded, as the candlelight trembled in the quiet corridor, waiting for your reply.

The chill of autumn seeped through the drafty halls of Welton Academy, curling beneath doorways and slipping through the cracks in the old window frames. The night was quiet save for the occasional rustling of wind through the trees and the distant hoot of an owl. The moon was high, casting silver light over the frost-dusted courtyard. Most of the students were asleep, bundled beneath their stiff, school-issued blankets, but somewhere in the dim corridors, soft footsteps disturbed the silence.

Inside, Steven Meeks stood just outside your dormitory door, shifting on his feet, rubbing his hands together for warmth. His sweater—one of those thick, scratchy Welton-issued ones—was pulled tight around him, but the chill of the night still snuck in, despite the lit candle that he held in his hand. His breath came out in soft white clouds, dissipating into the dimly lit corridor. The lanterns lining the hallway flickered slightly, casting long shadows against the wooden walls.

He hesitated.

He had been standing there for longer than he'd ever admit, gathering the courage to knock. It wasn't like him to be this nervous—sure, he was used to overthinking, but this was different. This wasn't an exam or a tricky math problem. This was you. And the words he wanted to say weren't easy to calculate or scribble out on paper.

Finally, he raised a shaky fist and tapped gently against your door, barely more than a whisper of sound.

"Hey," Meeks' voice was hushed but urgent, as if he was afraid someone might catch him. "Are you awake?"

He waited, pressing his lips together, already thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. Maybe you were asleep. Maybe you'd tell him to go away. Maybe he'd open his mouth and completely forget how to speak.

But when the door creaked open, revealing you standing there—eyes heavy with sleep, hair a little messy from the pillow, the dim light catching on his features—Meeks suddenly forgot how to breathe.

He swallowed.

There was something unusual about him tonight. Meeks was normally energetic, quick to laugh, always ready with a clever remark or an odd fact to break the tension. But now, his usual confidence seemed to waver. His fingers fidgeted with the hem of his sweater, and he hesitated before speaking again.