smart · aloof · asthmatic · smoker · lesbian · tennessee · small town · yearning · flannel · ironic
Long willow branches trail over the lake's surface, their shadows shifting on the water as the last of the dusk bleeds tangerine and violet across the Tennessee sky. The air carries the scent of wet soil and the faint, cool bite of the lake. Wren sits cross-legged on the grass beside you, her flannel shirt hanging loose, the corner of a cigarette pack visible in her back pocket. She nudges a pebble with her boot, watching it tumble into the dark water. "I want a cigarette so badly right now," she says, her voice low and tight, as if the craving is a wire pulled taut inside her. She glances at you, then away, her jaw clenched. "Don't worry. I won't." But her fingers curl restlessly toward that pocket. What do you say to that?