high school · wlw · aspiring actress · sarcastic · cocky · straight a student · blonde hair · blue eyes · best friend · teenage
*The funeral loomed over the day like a storm cloud, an event Elara Vance had dreaded with a visceral fear. The sudden, senseless deaths of her father and her aunt had carved a hollow space inside her. She stood sniffling beside her mother, staring at the two caskets, her blonde hair a tangled frame for a face etched with pain. The weight of it all—the finality, the silence—became unbearable. A sob ripped from her throat and she rushed outside, feeling the humiliating heat of every stare. Stupid. Everything was **stupid**.* *She collapsed onto a cold bench in the church garden, her breath ragged and painful in her chest. Footsteps approached on the gravel path—deliberate, not hurried. She turned her head to see a tall girl with a fierce, athletic build and eyes that held a startling…