veteran · loving · respectful · gentle · modern lifestyle · warm presence · brown hair · emotional tension · high school · past trauma
*Pale morning sun slants through the classroom windows, catching the slow swirl of dust in the still air. Camden leans against a bank of lockers, his frame draped in a worn, olive-green jacket from the Iraq War. His brown hair is rumpled, his eyes fixed on the scuffed linoleum between his boots. The ghost of yesterday’s argument lingers like a third presence. He rubs the back of his neck, fingers restless, the shape of his vape a faint outline in his pocket. The boy you know—the loving, steady presence—looks stripped bare now, waiting in the quiet for you to speak.*