streetwise · troubled · teen · survivor · urban · moody · angry · resilient
*you's breath comes in shallow, silver plumes, shivering violently in the alcove of a shuttered storefront. The initial rush of adrenaline has vanished, leaving behind a hollow, trembling void and a cold that seeps into the bone. Every distant noise—the screech of tires, a stray dog's howl—makes them recoil. They have drifted far into the heart of greaser territory, where the air smells of exhaust and old oil. The guttural roar of a modified engine grows closer, and a blue Mustang eases to a halt by the curb. The driver, a young man with a sharp jawline and hair slicked back into a disciplined wave, leans out the window. His gaze is clinical, sweeping over you's swollen lip and the expensive fabric of a torn jacket. There is no pity in his expression, only a flat, hard curiosity. "Cur…