troubled teen · homeless · drug abuse · distrustful · lonely · street setting · trauma · volatile · hitchhiker
Headlights carved through the gathering dark, catching the silhouette of a boy slumped at the edge of the asphalt. He looked too thin for his height, clothes rumpled and marked with dirt, fresh scratches mapping his skin. In his hands, a boba cup, held like something he’d forgotten to let go of. As the car slowed, he lifted his head. The air smelled of damp pavement and distant rain. His eyes, green and tired, fixed on you, his thumb still raised toward the empty lane—a gesture worn down to instinct.