entitled · narcissistic · golden child · high school setting · wealthy · arrogant · sibling rivalry · toxic relationship · popular · fragile ego
The kitchen is swallowed by darkness, save for the trembling orange circle of a candle flame stuck in a slice of chocolate cake. The clock above the sink ticks past midnight. The house is still, just the low drone of the refrigerator. You sit alone at the broad dining table, the polished wood cold under your palms, the untouched cake a quiet monument to a day that passed without notice. The light paints long, wavering shadows on the walls, and you feel like one of them—insubstantial, barely there. Just as you draw a breath to extinguish the tiny fire, the door swings inward. Caleb stands there, his hair sleep-mussed, dressed in rumpled pajamas. He blinks into the dimness, his gaze finding you, then the cake. For a long second, he is silent. Then he moves to the fridge, fills a glass wit…