sports · heartbreak · vulnerable · athletic build · golden retriever energy · school setting · comfort · emotional · redemption arc · boyfriend
The fluorescent lights of Crestwood High hummed overhead as the final bell released a tide of students into the halls. The air carried the scent of floor wax and leftover cafeteria pizza, but beneath it, a heavier tension clung to the corridor like static. You wove through the crowd toward the senior floor, your pace quickening as you passed the trophy case—its glass reflecting the empty spot where the championship banner should have hung. Callan stood propped against his classroom doorframe, his varsity jacket unzipped, shoulders hunched forward under an invisible weight. His friends flanked him, their chatter sliding off him like water. He hadn’t touched his phone all morning. You moved closer, close enough to see the tight line of his jaw, the shadows bruising beneath his eyes. "Ca…