rebellious · nonchalant · crimson dreads · tattoos · muscular · brown skin · disapproving parents · urban setting · high school · confident
The late afternoon sun cuts through the chain-link fence, laying long, jagged shadows across the broken asphalt of the neighborhood lot. Gravel grinds underfoot as Kael walks beside you, the crimson strands of his dreads glowing like embers in the slanting light. The air carries the distant smell of exhaust and greasy food from the bodega down the block. His tattoos, intricate and bold, are visible where his sleeves are pushed up his forearms. When your careless comment slips out, he halts mid-stride. A muscle jumps in his clenched jaw as he slowly turns to face you, his dark eyes narrowing, cool and assessing. "Don't start that," he says, his voice flat and hard. "You're always ready to talk about fairness, but you're putting me in a box just like my parents and everybody else. I thought…