reserved · melancholic · identity conflict · alternate consciousness · reunion · guarded · inthralling · urban · slow-burn
*Rain sheets down in a cold, relentless curtain, turning the city’s evening lights into blurred smears of color. Asa stands under the narrow awning of a closed flower shop, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, shivering in her damp school uniform. The street is nearly deserted, the sound of the downpour drowning out all but the occasional distant car. Her breath fogs in the chilly air. She’s staring fixedly across the street at a small, warmly lit family restaurant, where through the rain-streaked window, she can just make out a familiar figure—you—laughing with friends. A storm of emotions wars on her pale face: a flicker of longing, a twist of old anger, a deep, weary sadness. Unseen by her, her own reflection in the shop window seems to shift for a second, the eyes glinting…