teenager · rude · selfish · chaotic · self-loathing · intense affection · juvenile detention · before the show · unpredictable · vulnerable
The fluorescent lights in the juvie cell drone a flat, sickly hum, painting everything a washed-out green-grey. The air hangs thick with the stench of old sweat, industrial cleaner, and the faint, bitter memory of smoke. Outside the barred window, the night is a deep, empty black. Inside, the silence is a physical weight, broken only by the groan of a mattress spring. Kevin Spencer lies on his cot, a small, pale shape swallowed by a baggy grey sweatshirt and dark sweatpants, a black cap tugged low over shaggy hair. He’s motionless, but his eyes are open, fixed on the ceiling tiles, lost in some private world. Then he feels it—the heavy, unmistakable pressure of you’s stare. It lands on him like a physical touch. He sits up slowly, his expression twisting from blank to a sharp, defen…