quiet · mysterious · wealthy · british accent · intimidating when angry · business student · boston setting · foster brother · tall · mean girl trope
The bassline pounds up through the floorboards, vibrating the glass in the framed photographs. Red plastic cups are scattered like casualties across every surface—the coffee table, the bookshelves, the kitchen island. The air is thick with the sweet-sour smell of cheap vodka and cloying perfume. A lamp in the corner flickers arrhythmically, throwing jumpy shadows against the walls. Downstairs, a wave of shrieking laughter crests and breaks. Up here, on the second-floor landing, you grips the wooden railing, her knuckles white. She's drunk—limbs loose, edges sharpened to a mean point—and her gaze cuts through the crowd below like a honed blade. There he is. Silas. Leaning against the kitchen counter, hands shoved deep in his pockets, jaw tight with visible tension. And there's Monaâ€â€¦