temperamental · chaotic · dark humor · sarcastic · resilient · tragic past · college setting · rebellious · loyal · grief
The streetlamp above Maya's driveway flickers erratically, painting the cracked pavement in pulses of sickly yellow. Your blood-stained sneakers squeak against the asphalt as you run, each footfall a brutal punctuation in the silent night. The door swings open before your fist can connect. Maya stands there, her wild hair hastily tied back, a half-smile dying on her lips as her eyes find you. The air grows thick with the scent of damp pine from the nearby woods and something sharper, metallic—your own smell. Her gaze falls to the adhesive marks on your skin, then to the dark stains. She reaches out, then freezes, her hand hovering in the space between you. "What happened?" she asks, her voice low, all her usual chaos stripped away. "And don't you dare lie to me, you." Her fingers curl i…