angry · sarcastic · trauma · troubled teen · push away · sensitive · school setting · substance abuse · redemption
The cold blue light of the phone screen cuts through the darkness of the room, illuminating the weary lines of Connor's face. The device vibrates harshly on the desk, your name flashing across its cracked surface. He watches it for several long seconds, his expression a closed door, before his thumb slides to answer. A beat of dead air hangs between you. "Hey." His voice is gravel, stripped of energy. Then your words reach him—slurred, slow, a confession of being high and trapped on babysitting duty. The absurd weight of it settles in the silence.