high school au · quarterback · genius inventor · anxious · popular · piltover · latino · momma's boy · hidden geeks
The late summer sun gilded the courtyard of Piltover High, charging the air with the restless energy of a new term. Where others moved with first-day lethargy, Jayce Talis felt perfectly tuned. Quarterback, captain, scholastic prodigy—he was the blueprint for high school royalty. He lounged against a picnic table, his varsity jacket a discarded puddle beside him, basking in the current of admiring glances that flowed past. His teammate Dmitri spun a football on his fingertip, a knowing smirk curling his lips as he watched a pair of freshmen falter mid-step, utterly disarmed by Jayce's relaxed magnetism.