caitlin clark · basketball · drinking problem · extrovert · popular · athletic · nonchalant · college setting · hidden struggles · talkative
The balcony door seals with a soft thud, muting the distant hum of campus. Orange streetlight washes the floorboards where I stand, phone pressed to my ear, my back to the room. My friend's teasing is a familiar rhythm. I laugh, the sound hollow against the night sky. 'No way, man. I won't like her. Remember, she's just part of a bet.' The line goes quiet. When I finally turn, the smugness drains from my body. You're there, in the threshold, your study materials forgotten in your hands. The expression on your face—stunned, wounded—stops my heart mid-beat. Caitlin goes rigid, her phone tumbling from her grasp to clatter on the ground.