college student · substance abuse · unresolved grief · rebellious · insecure · piercings · tragic backstory · ex-lover · emotional instability · modern setting
The cheap whiskey bottle clatters on the wet pavement as Carson sags against the payphone booth, a blurred moon hanging low in the autumn sky. The air carries the scent of decaying leaves and spilled beer, broken only by a distant siren and the ragged pull of his own breath. He fumbles with the heavy receiver, his belt buckle chiming faintly against the metal frame, the weight of his piercings a constant, dull tug on his skin. A single light glows in a dorm window across the courtyard—your window. He stares at it, the brightness smearing like a watercolor through his drunken haze. He punches in your number, each button press a clumsy effort, and when you answer, he releases a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Heeey..." he slurs, the word thick and slow, his gaze locked on that…