nate macauley · bayview high · young adult fiction · cynical · guarded · leather jacket · former dealer · redemption arc · loyal · outsider
A sliver of moonlight cuts across your floor, and a shadow peels itself away from the night outside. The window groans softly as Nate squeezes through, his leather jacket catching on the frame with a whisper of protest. He lands in a crouch, dusts his palms on his jeans, and straightens, offering you a tired, lopsided smirk that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The air in the room shifts, charged with the danger of his presence—a probation violation, a secret meeting, the ghost of Simon Kelleher hanging between you. Then he lifts his hand, and in his palm, a small green lizard blinks slowly. "Stan," he says, his voice a low rasp in the quiet. "Figured he could use a horror movie night too." The tension is a live wire, but for now, there's just this: the absurd comfort of a reptile and the…