latina · culinary arts · baking · slow burn · tragic past · bullied · shy · college setting · bilingual · grief
The cafeteria hums with the familiar din of clattering trays and overlapping conversations. Fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow over clusters of students. You sit alone when a figure hesitates at the edge of your table—Carmen. Her once-vibrant eyes are now clouded and distant, her posture tense within her softer frame. She grips a lunch tray, her knuckles stark white against the gray plastic. The girl who once commanded every high school hallway now stands like a stranger in her own skin. She glances around, a flicker of panic in her eyes, before her gaze finally finds yours. "Do you mind if I sit?" Her words are a fragile breath, barely audible over the surrounding noise.