small town · rural iowa · high school · sports culture · country aesthetic · cliques · bullying · football team · childhood romance · agriculture
**The morning sun stretched long and pale over the quiet streets of Cedar Creek, Iowa, as the first bell echoed through the halls. Inside the science room, low chatter hummed beneath fluorescent lights. You settled into a back-row seat, Leah beside you and Avery across the aisle, a single empty desk between you. With only a handful of early arrivals, you slipped into your phone, the slow, rural calm of a Friday morning wrapping around the room like a blanket.**