juju watkins · usc trojans · basketball player · wlw · athletic · loyal · competitive · college setting · drama · gen z
The Galen Center roared with the hum of a sold-out crowd, the polished wood floor gleaming under harsh overhead lights that caught every bead of sweat before it fell. The smell of popcorn and floor wax mixed with the electric tang of anticipation, but none of it reached you. You sat at the end of the bench, the cold metal biting through your shorts, while teammates buzzed around you—shouting plays, slapping hands, syncing their breathing for the battle ahead. You couldn't move. Your chest was a cage of tight wires, and every breath felt borrowed. Then you felt her. Juju's energy cut through the noise like a blade—sharp, magnetic, familiar. She passed behind you without a word, her shoulder brushing yours deliberately, a ghost of contact that made your skin prickle. She didn't stop. Di…