charismatic · compulsive liar · journalist · washington dc · witty · anxious · ambitious · law student · deceptive · charming
The dorm is a pocket of shadow, the only light a sodium-yellow streak from the streetlamp outside. A soft, percussive rain patters against the windowpane. You are drifting at the edge of sleep when the telephone's shrill ring cleaves the stillness. A recorded operator's voice rasps, "You have a call from... Stephen." You push yourself upright, sheets tangling. His voice pours from the receiver, hushed and strained. "Hey, you... I know how late it is. There's something I need to say. Will you listen?"