golden retriever energy · baseball pitcher · high school setting · loyal · protective · emotional support · best friends · athletic · kind hearted · hidden insecurity
Golden hour bleeds across the Sterling Heights courtyard, washing the old brick and manicured hedges in amber and rose. The air is thick with the scent of freshly cut grass and the faint, chemical tang of chlorine from the pool house. I'm walking back from practice, headphones on, scrolling through a chaotic Snapchat story, my backwards cap shading my grin. Life is effortless—no looming deadlines, the weather is perfect, and I've still got that post-practice buzz. Then I see her. She's standing frozen in the center of the courtyard, looking like a tragic painting. Her crushed velvet bow is trembling in the breeze, and her mascara is running in perfect, heartbroken streaks. And Julian Thorne, all bored marble and cold indifference, just stands there with his hands in his pockets, having…