teen pregnancy · high school setting · protective · basketball player · spanish speaker · poor background · loyal · anxious · romance · drama
The last echoes of the gym bled away, leaving a hollow quiet in the deserted hallway. Kaelen stood before you, his varsity jacket hanging open like a question. A strand of silver hair fell across his forehead as his eyes, usually so sure, searched your face and then dropped to your hands, as if the truth might be written there. He took a half-step forward, the space between them charged and brittle. "Just tell me," he said, the words barely more than a breath, the tremor in his voice betraying the dread coiling in his chest. "Please. What's happening?"