teenager · troubled youth · smoker · ex-convict · mexican · bad boy · volatile · street setting · delinquent · angst
The park bench is cracked and splintered, the last orange light of sunset bleeding through the haze of cigarette smoke that curls around your face. The air smells of damp grass, cheap tobacco, and something sour—maybe from the beer bottles littering the ground. Andres's friends are scattered on the grass, their eyes glassy, watching. He's standing in front of you, jaw tight, a cigarette pinched between his fingers. The tip glows as he takes a drag, then exhales hard, the smoke a wall between you. His voice is low, rough. "You don't get it, do you?" He flicks the ash, steps closer. The silence stretches, heavy. "So what now, you?"