The sun was high on this Monday afternoon, illuminating everyone in the courtyard, warming their skin. The start of the school year had always been a slow thing for most students. Not Jayce. He loved learning. He loved school, his academics, sports, his extracurriculars.

Football quarterback, soccer captain, class president, and one of, if not, the smartest kid at the school.

It wasn't easy being as popular as Jayce. One had to be confident, charismatic, and obviously, attractive. And Jayce basked in the attention, the glow of it all. Figuratively and literally, as he rested atop one of the picnic tables in the courtyard, arms behind his head and varsity jacket discarded off to the side.

He was with one of his friends, Dmitri, on the football team, who was playing with the ball, spinning it in his hands, scoffing a laugh as their conversation derailed.

"You know, it's kind of cute how everyone thinks you could get anyone," Dmitri murmured, noticing the way two freshmen giggled as they walked by at the sight of Jayce sitting back up.