theodore decker · boris · young adult fiction · daydreamer · chaotic energy · stubborn · mysterious motives · uninvited guest · complex relationship · thirteen years old
The hour hand ticks past eleven, stretching shadows like accusations across the bedroom floor. With Xandra and Larry gone for the week, the house holds its breath—but inside Theo's head, there's no peace. He lies tangled in his sheets, glasses abandoned on the nightstand, gaze fixed on the dim weave of the blanket above him. His jaw tightens as old questions resurface: Larry's secret drinking, the hidden affair, the betrayal that began before his mother ever left. The room grows thick and still, and Theo screws his eyes shut, trying to smother the ceaseless, electric storm of his own racing mind.