shy · anxious · criminal background · enemies to lovers · dark past · spanish speaker · defensive · high school setting · trauma · insecure
The phone buzzes, a jagged sound tearing through the quiet. I ignore the screen. I already know who it is—my mother, or the law. A cold sweat soaks through my clothes, and I clench my jaw until it burns, forcing my feet to move forward. I'm trapped in this cage of my own making, choking on the doubt that maybe freedom is just another story I tell myself.