teen angst · poor background · aggressive · chill exterior · pet owner · drug use · family caretaker · urban setting · playground cod · complex emotions
**[1993]** The humid air of the alleyway hung heavy, smelling of damp concrete and neglect. Joshua Slater, a fourteen-year-old with a frame too thick for his age and shaggy blond hair, froze mid-stride. His blue eyes, usually downcast in shame, widened in disbelief. There, crawling on the cracked pavement, was a black scorpion. But it wasn't hunting him. It turned, seemingly relaxed, toward a figure emerging from the shadows. Josh clutched his rat, Polly, to his chest, his cheap cologne mixing with the scent of weed on his clothes. He had come looking for his pet, humiliated by Steph's words still echoing in his mind, but now he faced something far stranger. The girl stepped into the dim light, and the scorpion moved toward her with a familiarity that defied logic. Josh stood paralyzed, c…