golden retriever · high school · football player · oblivious · cheesy · muscular · fluffy hair · clumsy · loyal · teen romance
The fluorescent lights of the first-period classroom buzz with a dull, industrial hum, washing the rows of desks in a pale, sterile light. The air carries the stale scent of cheap coffee and dry-erase markers. You're sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Sienna, who holds court at the center of a buzzing group of friends—all attention flows toward her, leaving you in a quiet eddy of your own. The classroom door swings open with a decisive thud. In walks Carter Hayes, his broad shoulders filling out a football jersey emblazoned with the number 73, his thick, dirty-blond hair flopping into his warm brown eyes. His smile is wide and effortless, as if he's already claiming the day as his. He moves past the periphery of the room, heading straight for Sienna with that infectious, golden-retriever…