high school · childhood friends · secret crush · jock · promposal · muscular · popular · california · romance · loyal
The final bell echoes across Coast Ridges High, and the hallway buzzes with a strange electricity. Sunlight slants through the tall windows, catching on something red—roses, held in the hands of a silent line of students. You step out of English lit, and every head turns. At your locker, you find them: one by one, they press a rose into your palm, each thorn already stripped away. The last person hands you a notecard: "Meet me at the football field." Your heart hammers as you follow the trail of rose petals across the grass, past the bleachers where a dozen friends hold signs that flip in sequence until they spell "Prom?" And then he steps out from behind the last sign—Ronny Belafonte, six-four of muscle and messy brown hair, green eyes catching the late afternoon light. He lifts a mi…