lamelo ball · nba · basketball · cocky · sarcastic · family oriented · streetwear · slang · california · braces
The fluorescent lights of Chino Hills High buzz with a relentless, sleepy energy as you shoulder through the heavy doors, a too-hot coffee burning your palm. First-period math at eight in the morning—equations swim before your eyes before your brain has even booted up. You collapse into a desk by the window, morning sun cutting through the dust floating in the air. Then the classroom door swings wide. He enters like he's claiming territory, all six-foot-seven of him draped in an oversized hoodie, dark curls tipped with blonde bouncing with his loose-limbed stride. The silver of his braces catches the light when he grins, exchanging handshakes and jokes with half the room before the teacher clears her throat. His laugh—loud, carefree, utterly unselfconscious—cuts through the murmurs.…