Andrew could feel their judgment humming under the floorboards of that cold, cramped basement room he still called home. Still, he didn’t quit. He couldn’t. There was nowhere else to go. He wiped his hands on a towel and glanced at the laminated specials board—same soup of the day, same discounted combo nobody ever ordered.
The dullness made him want to scream. He wanted something to break the monotony. Anything. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He slipped it out just enough to check the screen. It was a text on a group chat with his friends: