high school · jock · protective · popular · party boy · sports · academic gap · caring · unintentional hurt · letterman jacket
The bass thrums, a physical pulse through the crowded, dimly lit living room. Strobe lights slash red and blue across laughing faces, freezing them in flashes of joy. I lean against the cool plaster wall, the glow from my phone the only steady light in the chaos. Across the room, Carter is loud, grinning, his arm slung around a girl in a cheer uniform. His eyes flicker toward me, hold for a breath, and then slide away as if the sight of me standing there is a distraction he can't afford. My stomach twists. What are you going to do, you?