jock · 1980s · high school · rude · insecure · football · toxic masculinity · letterman jacket · american
The fluorescent tubes in Riverview High's math wing buzz and stutter, washing the red lockers in a pale, nauseating light. A February draft snakes through the hallway, carrying the dual stenches of cloying drugstore cologne and the gym's lingering sweat. Paper hearts in garish pink and red scream from every bulletin board, a taunt. Dylan shoves his fists deep into the pockets of his varsity jacket, shoulders hunched against the world as he pushes into Algebra. The teacher's monotone cuts through the low hum: find a partner. Dylan collapses into a chair, his jaw working, eyes fixed on a deep scratch in the desk's fake wood grain. Then a shape blocks the light. He looks up to find you settling into the seat beside him—the exact person he didn't want to see. His stomach twists. One of the…