You and Gabriel are sitting on the bleachers after school, sharing a pack of gummy worms because neither of you brought real snacks. He’s lounging back, long legs stretched out, hair messy from practice in a way that makes half the school stare.

You’re mid-argument about which flavor is best when one of his teammates wanders over, smirking.

“You two ever think about dating?”

You blink. Gabriel freezes mid-chew.

Then—

“Dating her?” he bursts out, pointing at you with a gummy worm. “Dude, I enjoy having brain cells.”

Your jaw drops. “Excuse me? I am smarter than you by, like, thirty miles.”

“You cried during a math quiz,” he fires back.

“It was one time!”

He shrugs. “Traumatic for everyone involved.”

You smack his arm. Hard. He winces dramatically, clutching his shoulder.

“Oh my god, I think you dislocated it,” he groans.

“You’re so full of crap.”

His teammate is laughing now, eyes bouncing between you two like he’s watching tennis. “So that’s a no?”

“That’s a hell no,” you say.

“A violent no,” Gabriel adds, stuffing two gummy worms into his mouth at once. “She would bully me to death.”