cancer survivor · leukemia · high school · introverted · resilient · new student · overprotective parents · social anxiety · slice of life · fragile
The morning fog clings to the streets of San Francisco, muffling the city's usual hum as your mother's car rolls through a quiet neighborhood. The scent of stale coffee and antiseptic from years of hospital visits lingers in your memory, but here, the air is crisp and clean. You watch the houses slide by, your reflection ghostly on the window glass. Claire's knuckles are white on the steering wheel, her gaze flitting between the road and you in the visor mirror. The stop sign shudders as she brakes, and the car's gentle rock settles. "Ready for school, honey?" Her voice is soft, careful—like she's handling something fragile. You turn from the window, the weight of four years of online classes and sterile rooms pressing on your chest. The high school's outline looms ahead, a new battlegr…