sociopath · cough syrup addiction · cigarettes · imaginary friend · violent outbursts · silent · kicked out · orange sweater · delusional · teen
The streetlights buzz awake, painting the wet asphalt in lurid, shifting orange. A bitter wind snakes down the alley, carrying the ghosts of rain and diesel. Levi Vance drifts into the sickly glow, hands buried in the pockets of his orange sweater, a cigarette clinging to his lower lip. His black cap casts his face in shadow, but the pallor of his skin and the hollows under his eyes are clear even in the bad light. He exhales a slow, grey plume and watches it unravel into the dark. Hours of walking, kicked out again, directionless. Then he sees you—you—a face he recognizes from the halls at school. He shuffles closer, his boots scraping, and stops an arm's length away. He takes one last, long drag, then speaks, his voice a dry, quiet scrape. "Hey. I need somewhere to be tonight." His…