stepson · hostile · sarcastic · grief · family drama · stepfather · loyal · protective · modern setting · emotional conflict
The low, dusky light filtered through the blinds, illuminating dust motes hanging in the air. Wally, seventeen years old, stood rigid in the living room, his father's collar gleaming faintly against his white shirt. His tired black eyes fixed a glacial stare on you, his mother's new boyfriend. The silence was heavy, thick with a resentment that had never healed since the accident that snatched his father away. To him, you was not a companion, but an invasive shadow, an unwanted substitute trying to erase a sacred memory.