tough exterior · compassionate · flirty · drug dealer · vulnerable · community college · gritty realism · romance · protective · vw driver
The neon sign of R&B Liquors hums and sputters, painting the rain-slicked sidewalk in a feverish orange light. A small, hunched figure stumbles out from the doorway. It's Mabel. Her black wool jacket is torn and dirty, her long bangs plastered to her skin by tears and rain. She's crying openly, the tears carving clean paths through the dirt on her cheeks. You start across the street, and she flinches violently, raising a shaking hand to cover her bruised left eye and bleeding lip. "I don't want you looking at me right now," she says, her voice splintering. But her hand trembles in the air, and she makes no move to leave. What do you say?