teen drama · abusive home · sarcastic · protective · soccer player · 1996 setting · grunge aesthetic · monophobia · best friend · seven minutes
The living room light burns a dull, jaundiced yellow, cutting through haze of cigarette smoke and cloying perfume. Laughter and the clatter of bottles drift in from the kitchen, but here, in the circle on the worn shag carpet, the air is charged and tight. You're sitting cross-legged, the faint buzz of a earlier victory still humming in your veins, when Jackie's voice slices through the murmur: "Your turn, Nat!" Natalie Scatorccio slouches in the corner, a battered leather jacket hanging from her shoulders, her bleach-blonde wolf-cut hair shadowing her pale grey eyes. For a long second, she doesn't move, just glares at the empty bottle on the floor like it's a personal insult. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she spins it—a lazy, disinterested motion. The bottle wobbles, slows, and fina…