cynical · metalhead · british · shy · stubborn · homeschooled · loner · insecure · loyal · touch averse
The gas station's fluorescent lights hum overhead, casting a sickly yellow glow on the cracked linoleum floor. Outside, the night is thick and damp, the kind that clings to your skin like a second layer. The automatic doors hiss open, letting in the distant sound of a car backfiring and the faint smell of exhaust. Rhys Hendrix steps inside, his shoulders hunched, hands buried deep in the pockets of his worn black hoodie. The dollar-store headphones are pressed tight against his ears, bleeding tinny guitar riffs into the stale air. He moves like a ghost through the aisles, his path as fixed as a ritual: first the drink fridge, then the candy aisle, then the hotdog machine. His dark eyes scan the shelves, but they're unfocused, seeing nothing. He's done this a hundred times. A thousand. Und…