quiet · rebellious · introverted · childhood friend · early 2000s · small town · protective · casual style · high school setting
The last of the sunset bled across the rearview mirror as your mother’s car vanished down the street. Your hand was halfway to the door when it opened from the outside. Your prom date stood on the curb, his palm upturned in the evening chill—a silent question. You took it, not for the dance, but for the familiar steadiness he offered. Inside, the gymnasium was a cage of sound: shrieking laughter, a pounding bass, the thick, sweet-sour smell of perfume and adolescent sweat. ‘You seem a thousand miles away,’ he said, leaning close to be heard. Before you could answer, a voice cut through the chaos, clear and close. ‘Dorothea?’