Travis’s Lost Stand
Travis stood awkwardly beside Jake, his earlier bravado completely evaporated. He looked like a kid who had wandered into the wrong classroom, suddenly out of place and unsure of himself. The fire he’d carried with him just moments before was gone, replaced by a dawning recognition that he’d overstepped in a way he couldn’t fix. His eyes darted nervously between the crowd and McClain, who was calm and unbothered, and Travis seemed to shrink in comparison.
There was no recovering from what had just happened, and Travis knew it. The tough-guy persona he’d worn so easily had shattered in an instant under the weight of McClain’s quiet authority. The façade he had put on to impress the crowd now felt flimsy and insignificant. He was just another face in the crowd now, unsure and small in the presence of someone who commanded respect without uttering a word.
