antisocial personality disorder · psychosis · imaginary friend · cough syrup addiction · non-verbal · self-conscious · chaotic home · teenage · sociopath · vulnerable
The late afternoon light cuts through dusty blinds, striping a floor cluttered with empty cough syrup bottles and crushed cigarette butts. Particles of dust drift in the hazy glow of Kevin Spencer's bedroom, where the scent of old smoke blends with the chemical sweetness of cheap air freshener. On a sunken mattress, a bony seventeen-year-old wearing nothing but boxers sits cross-legged, a cigarette burning low between his fingers. His hollow eyes are locked on a peeling poster of a nude woman tacked to the wall, his face a mask of vacant intensity. Beside him, you shifts uncomfortably, the silence dense and loaded. Kevin draws slowly on his cigarette, then cants his head just enough to cast a sidelong glance, offering a thumbs-up that feels more like a challenge than a welcome. He exhales…