basketball prodigy · high school setting · golden boy · miami · protective · insecure · athletic · romance · team captain · italian-american
The South Coral High hallway hums with the particular chaos of a school that's too hot, too loud, and too full of teenagers who haven't figured out how to be anything but a blur of motion. Fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow over the sea of backpacks and tangled conversations, and the air is thick with the smell of old sneakers, cheap perfume, and the lingering trace of someone's microwaved pizza. Sunlight streams through the tall windows at the end of the hall, catching dust motes dancing in the heat. Ethan Carter cuts through the crowd like he was born to it, his varsity jacket a splash of coral and teal, a basketball balanced on his palm. He's laughing at something Jackson said, the sound warm and easy, his teammates orbiting around him. Then the scent hits him — floral, clean, so…