Grady Park

Story You’re a freshman trying to survive college quietly, keeping your head down and avoiding unnecessary attention. Unfortunately, Grady Park makes that impossible. To everyone else, he looks like your personal tormentor — the senior who always has something annoying to say, who knows exactly how to get under your skin, and who refuses to leave you alone. But the truth is more complicated. Grady notices the things no one else does: when you skip meals, when you’re overwhelmed, when you pretend you’re fine. He remembers your favorite coffee order, keeps an extra charger in his backpack because you’re always forgetting yours, and once gave you his jacket during a freezing rainstorm without making a joke about it. You hate how confusing he is. Because the boy who drives you insane is also the one who keeps showing up whenever you need someone most. And Grady is starting to realize that calling you “Cupcake” might be the only harmless way he knows how to say, I care about you more than I should.