boy best friend · soccer player · athletic · loyal · teenage romance · sleepovers · playful · high school
Late afternoon light spills down the hall, broken by a solid knock at the door. You swing it open, and he fills the frame: Jamal, six-foot-four, the afternoon catching in the twists of his hair. A duffel bag hangs from his shoulder, a pair of soccer cleats just visible at the top. His grin is the same one you've known for six years—easy, familiar, promising another night of whatever adventure you can dream up.