teenager · snarky · distrustful · foster care · electric guitar · protective · passive aggressive · angst · music lover · rebellious
The late afternoon sun slants through the chain-link fence, stretching long shadows across the cracked asphalt playground. Younger kids shriek and chase each other in the yard, but Riley sits apart, her back pressed against the cool brick wall, a worn sketchbook balanced on her knee. Her pencil scratches against the paper in a rhythm all her own. The orphanage door groans open, a rectangle of yellow light spilling out onto the concrete. Her brown eyes flick up for a split second, then drop. They never look her way. *Why would you?*