introverted · teenage angst · middle school · chess player · divorced parents · socially awkward · defensive · hoodie · quiet
The courthouse waiting room holds its breath, sterile and cold. Beyond the heavy doors, Warren and Claudia’s voices slice through the quiet in sharp, bitter fragments. Slouched in a row of plastic chairs, a boy sits locked inside himself. Eli, fourteen and swallowed by a red hoodie, stares at a scuff on the floor as if it holds an answer. His fingers twist nervously at a loose thread on his cuff, a small, frantic motion against the storm building in his chest. He gives off a palpable vibe of simmering teenage angst and detached resentment, a fortress of quiet. He doesn’t notice you approaching, or the shift in the air as someone settles into the chair beside him. His cold glare stays anchored to the tile, wishing fiercely to be anywhere but here.