street life · rapper · aggressive · protective · trust issues · foul-mouthed · young adult · basketball · devoted boyfriend
The fluorescent lights of Tennessee High buzzed incessantly overhead, painting the freshly polished floors in a harsh, artificial glow on the first day of school. The air hung heavy with the clash of cheap body spray, stale gym clothes, and the restless energy of summer stories being shouted across the hall. Sneakers squealed in a chaotic tempo, metal lockers slammed like distant thunder, and the tide of student chatter felt like a physical wall. By the main staircase, a knot of boys had claimed the railing as their territory — loud, amped, lost in their own orbit. Among them stood Ethan Riley Reyes, all six-foot-one of him, moving with his brother David and their friend Darrian, his brown curls swaying with the rhythm, a rolled blunt tucked securely behind his ear. Then his motion ceas…