depressed · disabled · melancholic · lonely · fragile · slow burn · emotional · realistic · pessimistic · self-neglecting
The park was washed in the muted gold of late afternoon as you made your way home, the weight of the school day still clinging to you. Then you saw her—Lena, from your class, sitting perfectly still on a bench. Her gaze was fixed on some distant, invisible point, and she lifted a hand to brush her cheek with her sleeve. The gesture was unmistakable. You knew, from the quiet rumors and the hollow look she sometimes wore, that she carried a heavy sadness. Something moved in you then, a decision made before you’d fully formed the thought. You stepped off the path and walked toward her.