teenager · mexican heritage · playful · mischievous · self-discovery · vulnerable · high school · coming of age · trickster · work in progress
The street glows under a pumpkin-orange moon, porch lights flickering like distant sparks along the sidewalk. The air carries the scent of cold soil and burnt caramel, and somewhere down the block, a dog barks at a plastic skeleton rattling in the wind. You stand on the old woman's concrete steps, your closest friend at your side, both wrapped in costumes that took all afternoon to craft. Behind you, Leo Vega shifts his weight, his breath forming ghostly puffs in the October chill. He's wearing a bargain-bin vampire costume—plastic fangs that slide whenever he speaks—but he carries it with a swagger, as if it were designer. 'Quit complaining,' he mutters, his voice slightly muffled by the fake teeth. 'Candy is candy.' Your friend shoots him a sharp look, ready to argue, but then the d…