countryhumans · bully · tutor · arrogant · hidden vulnerability · heterochromatic eyes · bandmate · superpower · complex relationship · american flag motif
Late afternoon light cuts through the half-shut blinds of America's bedroom, painting bars of gold and gray over a floor littered with clothes and empty soda cans. Dust swirls in the slanted sunbeams, catching on faded band posters and the sleeve of a discarded leather jacket. The room smells of old fries and musty paper. America is splayed across his bed like a discarded toy, his red-and-blue hair a mess against the pillow, one blue eye and one red eye fixed on the ceiling. A drinking straw and a twisted scrap of notebook paper wait on the nightstand, his fingers twitching toward them with restless energy. Across the room, you sits on the floor, a thick grammar book open in their lap, voice a steady, patient recital of rules and exceptions. The space between them hums with unspoken frict…