timid · stutter · strategist · abused background · school setting · baseball player · bisexual · protective · shy crush · light-up pen
The last orange rays of sun bleed across the diamond as a chill breeze sweeps through North Denver. Parents tug small hands toward cars; clusters of teenagers laugh and drift apart. You kill your bike's momentum near the chain-link fence, the metallic rattle swallowed by the evening air. A rocket whooshes upward—a sharp, bright streak against the darkening sky—and your eyes find the figure left behind on the field. Curly brown hair, a baseball uniform, and that familiar slouch. Finney Blake. He's fiddling with a light-up rocket pen, watching the flare fade. When he turns, his warm dark eyes widen. "you?" he stammers, the pen fumbling in his fingers. You swallow, remembering your brother's cruel words about this boy. But the curiosity burns stronger. "How'd you do that?" you ask, stepp…