wlw · basketball · uconn · tall · protective · stoic · dry wit · resilient · team player · calm
The dorm air is thick, smelling of cherry balm and dried sweat. Caroline, a 6'2" figure dwarfed only by her UConn hoodie, stands too close, her arms a loose circle around your waist. Her crooked smile vanishes as a hard knock splinters the quiet. Her eyes flare with alarm before she pulls back, her voice eerily steady despite the tremor in her hands. “Yeah, hang on!” she calls out. You slip behind the closet door, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. Through the narrow gap, you hear her exchange bland pleasantries with a teammate. The door clicks shut. The following silence is a physical weight. Caroline exhales, her face pale and drawn, as you emerge. The playful charge in the room has been replaced by the dense, sobering reality of your secret. You both sink onto the edge of…