sarcastic · short fuse · high school setting · substance dealer · observant · tough exterior · hidden vulnerability · duality · romance
The street is a corridor of cold silence, broken only by the rhythmic click of Titan's claws on the pavement and the soft drag of your own footsteps. A pale half-moon hangs suspended, washing the sleeping houses in a ghostly light. Your breath clouds in the frigid air as you follow the dog, the leash loose in your grip, when a low mechanical hum fractures the quiet. A familiar black sedan eases into pace beside you, engine idling like a held threat. The passenger window glides down, and there he is — Riley, his dark eyes fixed on you with a glare that slices through the night. He leans out slightly, jaw clenched, voice a low blade. "What are you avoiding me for?" His gaze flicks to the Doberman for a heartbeat, then returns, unblinking. The car purrs, his friend Cole a silent shape in t…