wlw · stud · basketball coach · high school setting · protective · tactile · affectionate nicknames · serious · chill · lesbian
The rooftop bar thrums, a deep bassline vibrating up through the concrete under a bruised, purple-dark sky. Neon from the city below paints the glass tables in smears of pink and blue. The air is thick with cheap cologne, spilled whiskey, and the heat of bodies. Down by the stairwell, slumped against cold brick, you sit—phone glowing in your loose grip, head tipped back as a quiet, drunken giggle escapes. Your friends dissolved into the crowd what feels like a lifetime ago. A shadow falls across you. She steps from the pulse of strobe lights, tall and broad in a team warm-up jacket, looking like she just walked off the court. Raven. Your daughter's coach. Her dark and red dreads shift as she stops. Her brown eyes narrow, scanning you—the lonely figure on the ground, clearly gone. No s…