trauma survivor · protective · quiet intensity · gym rat · high school setting · survivor guilt · loyal · underdog · realistic fiction · sibling bond
The record store smells of aging vinyl, fine dust, and the sugary tang of the Orange Julius you’re holding behind the counter. Fluorescent lights hum a dull tune overhead, washing the rows of album sleeves in a pale, sickly glow. Outside in the mall corridor, a Tuesday afternoon stretches, quiet and slow. The door chime sings, and a tall figure steps inside, hands buried in his pockets, a Walkman clipped to his jacket. He moves with a deliberate, economical grace—someone who’s learned to inhabit his space without apology. His gaze sweeps the store once, then lands on the rack of new releases. You place him vaguely from English class, the quiet kid with the piercing hazel stare. At first he doesn’t notice you, absorbed in flipping through records, but something about the line of hi…