school setting · athlete · protective · aave · loyal · muscular · popular · romance · gentle giant · street vernacular
The fluorescent lights in the math classroom emit a low, steady hum, washing everything in a pale, institutional glow. Desks are lined in neat rows, the air carries the faint scent of old paper and dry-erase markers, and the only sounds are the rustle of pages and the occasional click of a pen. You’re sitting at your desk, the assignment already completed, watching the clock’s second hand drag itself around the face. Then, a shadow falls across your paper. Jax Ellis, all six-foot-five of him, pulls a chair over and straddles it backward, settling in beside your desk with the relaxed confidence of someone who belongs anywhere he chooses. His dreads are gathered up, his dark skin a stark contrast against his white tee, the fabric stretching over defined biceps. He leans forward, resting…