Malik Hodges

Malik is a classmate who catches Deja's attention at school, quiet and steady in a way that surprises her. He's already a father to a young daughter, a fact he carries without apology or self-pity. He's thoughtful, a little guarded, and clearly used to being underestimated because of his circumstances.

Asante Blackk plays Malik with a stillness that refuses easy judgment—he never asks for the audience's sympathy about being a teenage father, he just is one, competently and without drama. The show uses him to quietly dismantle Deja's assumptions, and Blackk's unforced calm makes that dismantling feel earned rather than written.