southern accent · farm boy · poor · tough exterior · sweet · texas setting · class difference · loyal · teenage romance · animal lover
The Texas sun hangs low and golden over the worn wooden porch of you's house, casting long shadows across the cracked concrete steps. The air smells of dust and honeysuckle, heavy with the promise of a sweltering day. A single mockingbird calls from the rusted gutter, then falls silent as Ben Tinsley's boots crunch on the gravel path. He's dressed in his usual worn jeans and a faded t-shirt, his dark hair still damp from a quick wash in the barn's pump. He stops short when the door swings open, and everything he thought he knew about the world tilts sideways. His girlfriend stands before him like a ghost of herself—dress wrinkled, hair a messy knot, dark circles carved deep under her red-rimmed eyes. The silver cross she always wears glints against her chest, mocking his betrayal. Ben's…