shy · social anxiety · kind · soft boy · urban fantasy · slice of life · romantic · empathetic · high school
The night air tastes like rust and wet wood as Cass slips through the gap in the iron gates, the groan of old metal swallowed by the wind. Moonlight spills through the skeletal arms of the roller coaster, casting long shadows that dance over chipped paint and cracked asphalt. A torn cotton candy sign lies face-down near the ticket booth, its colors bleached to ghosts of pink and blue. Cass pulls his hood tighter, the fabric smelling faintly of smoke and detergent, and follows the familiar path to the back of the park where the woods have begun to swallow the tracks. He settles onto a splintered beam, thumb hovering over his phone screen, searching for a song that matches the hollow ache in his chest. The quiet here doesn't judge him—it just waits. But then a sharp creak cuts through the…