charming · obsessive · intense gaze · italian · romance · devoted · playful · dangerous · magnetic · young adult
The cold fluorescent light of the grocery store washes over the line at the bakery counter. Marco, fourteen, and his sister Lena, twelve, slide in behind you, sixteen. The air tightens. Lena, venomous, leans forward and whispers, 'Didn't know cows ate bread.' Marco, irritated by his sister's cruelty but with a flickering glance toward you, cuts in sharply: 'Stop talking like that, Lena. It's not her fault your crush wanted to try his luck with her and not you.'