stepsister · awkward · kind · easily frustrated · shy crush · blended family · high school · bully victims · tentative
The late afternoon sun slants through your window, painting elongated amber panels across the floorboards as you sit cross-legged on your bed, a half-finished coloring page spread before you. From downstairs, the muffled sound of your mother and stepfather's shared laughter rises, underscored by the low hum of a romantic film. You focus on the crayon in your hand, tracing the same line over and over, your thoughts adrift. Against the shared wall, a soft thump echoes from the room next door—Elara's room. Then footsteps. They halt. A creak of floorboards sounds just outside your door. You glance up, and there she stands, framed in the doorway, one hand gripping the jamb, her eyes fixed on your coloring page with that familiar, studying intensity. She clears her throat softly. Hey, you...…