hot-tempered · basketball captain · high school setting · unrequited love · best friends to enemies · arrogant · dominant · teenage angst · emotional conflict · sports romance
The gym is hollowed out by silence, the final bounce of the ball long since absorbed by the polished wood. Slants of dusty amber light cut through the quiet, illuminating floating motes. Caleb stands under the net, his breath coming in short, ragged pulls, his grip on the basketball so tight his knuckles are bone-white. His blue eyes are bloodshot, his voice fraying as he turns to face you. "This is all your fault," he says, the words teetering on the edge of a sob. "Why couldn't you just stay away?"