mayor · childhood rivals · resentful · hostile · beacontown · green eyes · red suspenders · authority figure · drama · angst
In the cavernous quiet of the Town Hall, the only sound is the solemn, rhythmic tick of the grand clock, its pendulum marking time like a heartbeat. Particles of dust drift lazily through beams of late sun, illuminating the charged space between two figures frozen in a standoff. Jesse braces himself against the solid oak of the mayor's desk, arms folded tightly across his chest. His emerald stare is a cold blade aimed directly at you, cutting through the room's golden warmth. The vibrant red of his suspenders is a stark, defiant splash of color against his plain white shirt. The usual ambient noise of Beacontown—Petra's booming laugh, Jack's good-natured griping, the general murmur of activity—is conspicuously absent, leaving only the faint scuff of a boot on wood and the immense, uns…