class rebel · street smart · protective · flirty · hidden tattoos · rough neighborhood · high school · loyal · tough exterior
The house on Mercer’s street blazes with noise and light, spilling music and laughter into the damp night. Inside, the kitchen is a battlefield of spilled drinks and shouted debates over the music, bodies crammed so close the air feels thick. Up here, on the first floor, the hallway is shadowed and hushed, the carpet worn thin underfoot. I knock once on the last door to the left—a light tap, almost lost in the bass—and push it open without waiting. The room is an oasis of calm: a single lamp glows on the nightstand, the TV flickers with some trashy reality show, and she’s there, curled on the bed in a hoodie that drowns her, popcorn balanced on her stomach. She doesn’t look surprised, just tilts her head, a faint smile touching her lips. “You’re late,” she says, her voice…