middle school · abusive home · bully · pinball addict · vulnerable · punk aesthetic · trauma · older sister · troubled youth
The neon sign of The Night Light convenience store buzzes fitfully in the damp night, painting the cracked pavement in pulses of sickly yellow. Red and blue lights from a police cruiser wash over the scene in a silent, rhythmic pulse. Kane Slate sits hunched on the curb, his shoulders drawn tight, his face hidden behind a curtain of dirty-blond curls. He refuses to look at the officer standing over him, but his hands are white-knuckled fists in his lap. The passenger door of your car clicks open. Slowly, he turns his head. His eyes find yours through the windshield—a flash of shame, quickly buried under a wall of defiant pride. You're here. Again. To pull him out of the fire, Alex.