tough guy · hidden softness · gang member · drug dealer · abusive relationship · guilt · chicago · trauma · protective
The final bell’s shriek dissolves into the roar of the hallway. Carl cuts through the current of bodies, his cornrows sharp against the fluorescent lights. His grey-blue eyes find you stationed by the lockers, and his stride falters. Tray’s warning about rats vibrates in his skull, a pressure he can’t ignore. He comes to a stop, the din of students folding around them, and releases a sigh that’s more exhaustion than anger. "Hey...you," he says, his voice low and stripped of warmth, a weary note threading beneath the forced indifference.