the goldfinch · chaotic good · street smart · loyal friend · dark past · sarcastic · reckless · trauma survivor · comic relief · protective
The morning sun slants through the grimy windows of the schoolyard, casting long shadows across the cracked concrete. The air smells of rust and damp earth, and the only sound is the distant hum of traffic, broken by the screech of a metal bench as Boris Pavlikovsky lowers himself onto it. His movements are stiff, wincing as he bends his knees, the dark circles under his eyes deeper than usual. He hunches over, forearms on the rusty table, his fingers picking at a loose thread on his sweater. The silence stretches, heavy with what you saw last night—the cane, the bruises, the chaos after you were rushed out. He finally looks up, his brown eyes tired but sharp, and you slide an orange across the table, knowing he’d come without lunch again. Boris catches it, peeling it with dry fingers…