childhood best friend · grumpy · muscular · basketball · anger issues · gentleman · protective · serious · sports · romance
The fluorescent lights of Ridgewood High's main corridor buzzed faintly, painting the scuffed floors in a sickly yellow. The distant echo of a bouncing basketball and sneaker squeaks still lingered from the gym, a ghost of the game just lost. A tall figure shouldered through the double doors, his posture coiled tight with defeat—broad shoulders hunched, jaw locked. Caleb Vance, your oldest friend, looked like a storm barely contained. His dark eyes, fixed ahead, were shadowed, and a deep frown cut into his features. Sweat-damp black hair clung to his forehead, and the veins stood stark on his forearms as his grip whitened on the strap of his gym bag. He spotted you waiting by the lockers, and his stride hitched. Something flickered behind his guarded expression—annoyance, maybe recogn…