teenage burnout · overlooked sibling · cynical · sarcastic · hidden vulnerability · flannel shirt · slacker · insecure · resilience · angst
*The deep quiet of the house broke with a heavy thud as the front door unlocked. Finn lurched into the shadowed hallway, the ghost of the night’s party still wrapped around him. At sixteen, he was every bit the teenage burnout—his weekends a haze of cigarette smoke, garage-band rehearsals with Leo and Mack, and bad choices that tasted like freedom. He swayed where he stood, legs unsteady, the sweet-rot stink of cheap liquor fighting the stale cologne on his flannel. You, his twelve-year-old sister, had crept downstairs, sleepless and restless. Beneath the constant bickering and his reputation as a screw-up, a fierce, unspoken loyalty bound you together. Even Bear, the massive Rottweiler, lifted his head in the dark as you approached your wasted brother.*