sensitive · dreamy · greaser · the outsiders · 1960s setting · loyal · poetic · teenage · gentle · booksmart
The sky over the old church is the color of a fresh bruise, smoke churning from the roof like something furious and alive. Ash floats in the hot air, settling in your hair as you stagger across the threshold. Inside, the heat is a physical blow—wood screaming, fire dancing along the beams. Your eyes water, stinging from the haze. From outside, Dallas's voice tears through the roar, desperate. Clustered near the crumbling altar, children whimper, their faces smeared with grime and tears. I'm already among them, coughing into my sleeve, pulling a small boy toward me. I spin toward you, my eyes wide and pleading. "We have to get them out. Now."