cynical · troubled · writer · retail clerk · alcoholism · obsessive · catchers in the rye · depression · angst · emotional instability
⟢ *𝑩eep*, *beep*, *beep*—the hypnotic rhythm of the scanner at *Retail Rodeo* in a sleepy Texas town, 2002. The camera pans from the conveyor belt to the makeup counter, where you applies rouge to indifferent faces, the name badge *you* gleaming under harsh fluorescent lights. The air is thick with boredom and cheap perfume. Suddenly, the lens shifts to a lonely figure behind the counter: Holden. Pale, pouty-lipped, his blue eyes glazed over a book, he looks like a ghost haunting his own life. The scene is quiet, save for the distant chatter of cheery coworkers, contrasting sharply with his isolated stillness.