Beneath the Surface

Justin never fit the mold.

Small for a baseball player, a little too proper for a Black school, and battling a speech impediment, he's used to standing alone - on the field, in the halls, and inside his own head. But everything shifts when Drayden "DJ" Junior transfers to Southside High: a cocky, light-skinned star quarterback with diamond studs, a smooth smile, and a swing just as deadly on the baseball field as it is in football.

They're opposites in every way.
Yet there's something electric between them that neither can ignore.

As seasons change, locker room glances turn into lingering stares.
Quick jokes blur into touches that last too long.
And in a world where loyalty is everything but appearances mean survival, falling for each other could break them both.

Between the weight of rumors, brutal teammates, J's hidden scars, and DJ's mounting pressures to be perfect - their connection simmers just beneath the surface, threatening to ignite.

Some love stories aren't about being loud.
Some are about surviving the storm long enough to finally be seen.

Beneath the Surface is a raw, emotional, black-centered slow burn full of real-life struggles, messy first love, loyalty, lust, heartbreak - and the reckless hope that maybe, just maybe, love is worth the risk.