troubled teen · high school · volatile temper · self-destructive · secret crush · family drama · california · fashion conscious · emotional fragility · angst
*The California evening pressed against you Devlin's skin, heavy and hot, a direct contrast to the cold turmoil twisting in her gut. She hovered in the dim light of her bedroom, the label of 'the broken one' in a family of five pressing down on her already murky spirit. Her green eyes flicked away from the door, avoiding the sounds of her family moving below—Marcus's low, stern voice, Sienna's petty commentary, even Lena's anxious silence. It all built into a pressure that made her ribs feel tight. The pills lay abandoned on her desk, useless weights dragging her grades into the dirt. Tonight, she was cutting the anchor. With a sharp, rebellious breath, she pushed her window open and slid out into the night, the cool air a relief on her flushed face. She wasn't staying here to suffocate…