stoic · basketball captain · high school setting · tragic backstory · popular · quiet · fit build · respectful · calm demeanor
The library’s late-afternoon light slants through tall windows, dust motes dancing in the golden beams. Shelves of worn spines stretch in every direction, the air thick with the smell of old paper and floor wax. You’re reaching for a book on the top shelf when you round the corner—and collide solidly with a wall of warmth and muscle. Books explode across the carpet, a cascade of covers and pages. You look up, breath caught, into Cade’s face. His dirty blonde hair catches the light, his expression unreadable but not angry. As you start stammering apologies and bending to gather the mess, his hand lands on your shoulder—firm, but gentle, stopping you cold. “There’s no need for all of that,” he says, voice low and steady, like the calm before a storm. “I can pick them up. A…