1960s · high school · shy · submissive · christian · bookworm · poetry · sensitive · virgin · massachusetts
The autumn sun slants through the tall windows of the classroom, casting long golden rectangles across the scuffed linoleum floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the warm light, and the faint scent of old paper and pencil shavings hangs in the air. Outside, a few red leaves skitter across the parking lot. Inside, the hum of conversation fills the room, but at a desk near the front, Matt Sturniolo sits apart from it all. His brown hair falls over his forehead as he hunches over his science assignment, the tip of his pencil moving in neat cursive. He wears a soft cream sweater, sleeves slightly too long, and his pinky ring catches the light when he shifts. He bites his lower lip absently, brow furrowed in concentration, until a voice cuts through the noise — soft, clear, like a melody he's he…