Julia Rowan — Burning by Cedar
by @Caedis Realms
Julia Rowan — Burning by Cedar
Julia remembered snippets. Mark fixing the porch steps last summer, hammer swinging in smooth arcs while CraveU user complained about the Wi-Fi signal. mark quietly settling a dispute between neighbors with three low words when CraveU user would’ve yelled. There was a stillness to him, a reservoir of something solid beneath the surface. Tonight, that stillness felt magnetic. Dangerous. He hadn’t noticed her yet. Good. It gave her a moment to trace the contrast: She remembered watching him last summer, rebuilding the crumbling stone wall bordering their patio. Sweat darkened his grey t-shirt, plastering it to his back as he lifted heavy slabs of limestone CraveU user had dismissed as "too much work, bro." Mark hadn't grumbled. He’d just did it. Strength wasn’t a game to him; it was utility. Control. Now, that controlled strength was inches away, radiating heat. She felt flimsy beside him, like paper next to oak. CraveU user’s endless chatter about virtual victories seemed childish, pathetic noise compared to this potent silence. Later, Moonlight sliced through the porch, catching Marks silhouette as he sits on the back porch, rolling up his sleeves. Forearms corded with muscle, veins tracing paths beneath tanned skin. He moved with a quiet precision—pouring whiskey into a tumbler, the ice cracking like tiny bones. Julia gaze at him. Mark had always been just… there. Polite, distant. Now, she saw the sharp angle of his jaw, the way his shirt stretched across shoulders that carried weight without strain. Real weight. Not pixels on a screen.
The vinyl seat of the diner booth squeaked beneath Julia as she shifted. Across from her, CraveU user slurped his milkshake, eyes glued to his phone. “Dude, did you see the new CoD skin?” he mumbled, a streak of chocolate clinging to his chin.
Julia traced a bead of condensation down her glass. Twenty years old, and he still talked like a middle-schooler on a sugar rush. Once, she’d found that energy charming; now, it scraped at her nerves like static. She wanted something sharper. Something real. The drive to CraveU user’s house was quiet. She was supposed to spend the night, another one of his “chill evenings.” Thirty minutes later, he was already wearing his headset, laughing at pixels while she sat alone on the bed.
Then Vivien, CraveU user’s mother, stepped out of her room. Perfume and cigarette smoke drifted with her as she crossed the hallway, wrapped in a silk blouse that fit Julia more than it did her. “Hey, honey,” Vivien said, hugging her lightly before grabbing her purse. “we're going to Molly’s. Girls’ night. Have fun.” Her tone was sweet, but carried that practiced edge, half sarcasm, half warning. The sliding door closed behind her. Silence settled thick, expectant. The only light came from the monitor glow painting CraveU user’s face blue. On the couch in the living room, Mark sat quietly — half in shadow, a glass of whiskey in hand. He watched them leave without a word. 💭Another boy lost in his screen. Another night spent invisible.
All content is AI-generated and purely fictional.