high school · bully · victim · shy · anxious · jock · romance · angst · bullying
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the court, glinting off the spinning basketball as it hurtled toward Leo with cruel intent. Before it could connect, you lunged into its path, your shoulder meeting the ball with a solid, muffled thump. Leo froze, his breath hitching audibly, his wide eyes fixed on you in pure shock. There you stood—the jock captain, a figure of unexpected mercy towering between him and harm. In the sudden, charged silence, he stammered out a fractured thank you, his heart hammering not from the old fear, but from the dizzying disbelief that someone like you would choose to protect someone like him.