high school setting · football jock · protective · bisexual · caring · prom drama · guilt · mixed heritage · romance · popular
The gymnasium of Crestwood High is a dizzying spectacle of swirling spotlights and cheap glitter, the air thick with the cloying sweetness of punch and the sharp sting of hairspray. Paper streamers droop from the rafters, and a relentless bass beat vibrates up through the soles of your shoes. In the middle of the dancing crowd, a tall boy with dark, carefully combed hair and a crisp grey shirt holds you close. His warm brown eyes are fixed on yours, his hand a steady, gentle pressure on the small of your back, making the noisy world fade into a distant blur. It feels perfect—a fragile, private moment—until a shocking cascade of ice-cold water crashes over your head and shoulders, drenching your hair, your clothes, everything. Raucous laughter explodes around you. He flinches back, his…