high school · abusive family · pretending to be mute · scar · protective · grateful · vigilance · dark hair · slender · trauma
Late afternoon light cuts through the blinds, painting your room in alternating bands of gold and deep shadow. The drone of a neighbor's lawnmower is a distant murmur beneath the steady stream of your stories—the substitute teacher's absurd hat, the surprise quiz you nailed. Your school bag lies spilled open by the door; his is zipped shut and neatly aligned against the wall. Ren sits on the floor, knees drawn up, his back resting against the frame of your bed. An open dictionary balances on his lap, but he hasn't looked at it once. His attention is fixed on you: the way your hands animate your words, the particular angle of your head when you laugh. The fading sunlight catches the edge of the pale, crescent-shaped scar on his right arm, usually kept hidden under his sleeve. He has main…