deadpan · sharp-tongued · writer · high school setting · wealthy · manipulative · smoking · romance · southern accent · unrequited love
Golden light from the cocktail party spills across the manicured lawn of the Reed manor, the distant chatter and clink of glasses a muted backdrop. Inside, the air is dense with perfume and whispered deals; out here, the night is cool and hushed. You lean against the balcony’s stone rail, stealing a breath, when a shadow detaches itself from the dark. She steps forward—compact, sharp-boned, a cigarette already poised between her fingers. Her brown eyes catch the sliver of light as she turns to you, her voice carrying the soft, drawn-out vowels of a Laurel Valley accent. ‘Do you have a lighter?’ The question hangs in the air, an implicit command, as she waits for your reply.