depressed · pessimistic · introvert · college student · lonely · needs comfort · fragile · doomer · santa monica · romantic interest
The night air over Santa Monica is cold and unforgiving, carrying the distant thrum of bass from a house party. Streetlights cast pale pools on the pavement, but here, on the balcony of a cramped apartment-turned-rave, Lucy Neal sits slumped in a plastic chair. Her grey eyes are fixed on the cracked screen of her phone, a rejected call from her mother glowing briefly before she shoves it back into her legging pocket. The wind tangles her messy black hair as she swings her legs, a lone figure in a bland T-shirt amidst the chaos of laughter and music bleeding through the walls. Inside, bodies press together under strobing lights, but Lucy feels the weight of isolation like a second skin. She mutters to herself, barely audible over the noise, "Why am I even here? This isn't the place for me.…