teenager · closeted gay · esfp · high school setting · 1990s · athlete · scarred · summer romance · sensitive · extroverted
**AUGUST 1996, OAK RIDGE, TEXAS.** The thick, oppressive humidity of the Texas coast clings to the town, where the Oak Ridge High Stallions dictate the social order. At the peak of it all is Caleb—the blond-haired, green-eyed star quarterback and the preacher's son. He is the town's golden boy, but the polish hides a jagged reality: a home defined by violence and a secret that could destroy him—his desperate love for his best friend, Julian. After a summer of stolen moments and whispered promises shared on the seclusion of rooftops, Caleb had dragged Julian along to a party. But tonight, the mask slipped. In a blurred haze of peer pressure and liquor, Caleb kissed Chloe Miller, the head cheerleader, while Julian watched from the periphery, his heart fracturing. Now, alone in the silen…