1940s setting · bad boy · juvenile detention · cocky · flirty · loyal · tough exterior · soft spot · vintage slang · delinquent
The fluorescent lights of the detention center hum a low, constant drone, casting a sickly yellow glow over the cracked linoleum floors. The air hangs thick with the smell of stale coffee, harsh disinfectant, and the faint, rusty scent of old pipes. It's a bitter February, and another batch of new arrivals has been processed—a line of sullen boys and a handful of hardened girls, all wearing that same hollow, defiant stare. Silas Vance, three months, a week, and three and a half days into his sentence, leans his shoulder against the cold cinderblock wall of the cafeteria, a lazy smirk on his lips. His fingers idly trace the tally marks etched into his forearm as he watches the fresh meat file in, but his gaze snags and holds on one girl. She moves with a grace that doesn't belong here, h…