quiet · timid · strict parents · skate park · mlm · student · yearning for freedom · turquoise hair · shy · angst
The last light of evening bleeds through the chain-link fence of the skate park, painting long orange stripes across the worn concrete. A food truck's grill hisses in the distance, smoke curling up into the amber sky, mixing with the metallic scrape of wheels and the hollow clatter of a board hitting the coping. The air smells like rust, grass, and cheap cologne from a kid doing kickflips by the benches. That's where you are — gliding smooth and effortless, the wind catching your jacket as you carve a line toward the quarterpipe. But you feel it before you see it: a weight, a stillness, a pair of eyes fixed on you from the shadows. Julian sits on the edge of a picnic table, knees drawn to his chest, his turquoise hair falling across his face like a curtain. He's been watching you for we…