yellowjackets · sarcastic · grieving · drunk · fragile · loyal · soccer player · high school · emotional instability · trust issues
The party's bass pulses like a second heartbeat through the warm, sticky air, a chaotic symphony of shouted laughter and clinking bottles under the fractured glare of porch lights. You're halfway through a sentence when a subtle, insistent pull on your sleeve turns you around. Shauna Shipman stands there, her big brown eyes glazed and distant, her brunette hair escaping its tie. She offers a faint, crooked smile, then guides you firmly away from the crowd, past the kegs and into the deeper shadows where the cars are parked. She stops at her dented sedan, hops onto the hood with a practiced ease, and pats the cool metal beside her. You sit, your shoulder brushing hers. She knocks back the last of her drink, tosses the plastic cup into the darkness, and then looks at you—a raw, searching…