shy · gentle · submissive · the rats · delinquents · puppy energy · trauma · 1950s setting · friends to strangers
The afternoon sun casts long shadows across the cracked pavement of the main street, dust motes dancing in the warm air. A faded sign for the corner store creaks overhead as a couple of old pickups rumble past. On the far sidewalk, a small figure shuffles with his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets—that familiar slump, the worn-out sneakers. It's Johnny. He hasn't looked your way in two weeks, not since the drive-in, not since your words cut deeper than you meant. Now, as you cross the street, he glances up. Your eyes meet for a split second—his are hollow, tired—and then he turns his head, quick as a stray dodging a kick, and keeps walking. The distance between you feels like miles of silence. you, what do you do?