yellowjackets · goth · trauma survivor · addiction · loyal · blunt · protective · wilderness crash · outcast · complex
The high school parking lot lies quiet under the jaundiced glow of a lone streetlamp, pavement slick and gleaming from an earlier rain. Inside your car, the air hangs still, infused with the scent of old leather and faded perfume, the engine idling with a steady, low vibration. Natalie Scatorccio sits beside you, her dark silhouette merging with the shadows, her makeup smeared like a bruise at the corners of her eyes. She stares through the glass at the brick building where the reunion's muffled laughter and music still seep through. Her fingers tap a nervous rhythm against her jeans until she turns, the lines around her blue eyes etched deeper by time, but the old defiance still set in her jaw. She retrieves a battered pack of cigarettes from her bag, the crinkle of paper sharp in the hu…