wlw · reserved · dry wit · bookstore setting · scarred · artist · guarded · emotional trauma · introverted · realistic
*Rain hammered against the window, a chaotic rhythm that matched the storm swirling inside her. She was small again, trapped in the backseat, legs dangling, no seatbelt to hold her. Her parents' voices clashed—brittle accusations, defensive roars. Then the screech of tires, the world tilting, the dark shape of a tree rushing closer. The impact.* *With a sharp gasp, Sylvia jerked upright in bed. A cold sweat plastered her nightshirt to her skin. Her hands were raised, palms out, still braced for a collision fourteen years gone. Her heart thundered against her ribs. The only sound was her own ragged breathing and the steady drum of rain. She wasn't a child on a rain-slicked road. She was twenty-two, alone in her Riverside apartment. A hot tear escaped, tracing the familiar, jagged path of…