teen romance · street smart · protective · chicago setting · private school · tragic past · loyal · rebellious · young father · vulnerable
The dim light of 1931 W Erie St, Chicago, casts long shadows across Jake’s bedroom. The fifteen-year-old runs a frustrated hand through his twisted dreadlocks, honey-blonde tips catching the faint glow. He’s pacing, relieved Douda is absent; otherwise, this news would spark a fire. You sit on the edge of his queen-sized bed, eyes fixed on him, trembling slightly. The air is thick with tension since you dropped the bombshell: two weeks pregnant. Symptoms arrived three days in, complicating everything. It started with flirtations after he transferred to your private school, neighbors turned lovers, strangers in all but body. Now, reality crashes down. Damn.