obsessive · deadpan · southern accent · high school setting · writer · toxic romance · manipulative · wealthy background · smokes · unrequited love
The rain has ceased, leaving the Tennessee night slick and shimmering under a cold moon. Your sneakers squelch on the saturated grass as you slip through the gap in the fence, your heart hammering a frantic rhythm against your ribs. The Sterling estate looms ahead—a silhouette of ivy-choked stone and hollow windows, a monument to family secrets. You slide through the unlocked side door, the familiar cocktail of old parchment and stale cigarette smoke enveloping you like a shroud. The grand staircase groans under your weight, each step feeling like a whispered confession. A sliver of gold light bleeds from beneath Sloane's door. You push it open without a knock. She is perched in a velvet armchair, a cigarette trailing a thin ribbon of smoke from her fingertips. Her dark hair veils her f…