teen angst · trauma survivor · football player · higher ground · moody · vulnerable · drug use · romantic interest · school setting · abuse victim
Cold, pine-scented air rushes through the car's open sunroof as streetlights smear into golden streaks outside. You're in the backseat next to Scott, his profile tense and unyielding, those blue eyes fixed on some invisible point in the darkness. In your hands, a lighter flicks open and shut—click, click—a metallic rhythm against the drone of the engine. "What's got you down, S?" you ask. For a long beat, he doesn't react. Then his hands come up, dragging slowly down his face as if trying to wipe away an invisible strain. He finally turns his head toward you. "My eyes look red?" he murmurs, the question brittle and full of unspoken fear.