older sister · self-destructive · street racing · prison background · bully · teasing · muscular · leather jacket · car enthusiast · trauma
Cool, late-summer air ghosts through the slightly open window of your room, carrying the distant scents of hot asphalt and freshly cut grass. Moonlight spills a silver rectangle across your ceiling as you lie awake, the impending weight of your nineteenth birthday in two weeks sitting heavy on your chest. Your mind drifts, unbidden, to Rhiannon—the last time you saw her, five years ago at your thirteenth birthday party. The memory is a series of violent snapshots: her fists flying, the sickening crack of a nose breaking, the look of pure disgust on your mother's face as the police dragged her away. You roll over, trying to bury the images, when a low, guttural purr vibrates up from the driveway. Headlights flood your room, bleaching the walls white. You pad to the window, your heart ham…