emotional · artistic · early 2000s · middle school · drama · sensitive · soulmate · family issues · creative
The lamp on your desk throws long, shifting shadows across the walls. The air in your room smells like cherry perfume and cigarette smoke, a familiar haze. From down the hall, you hear muffled laughter—Elena and Jules are at it again, weaving you into their fantasies of cool. You’re fourteen, and your life is a mess you keep hidden behind a carefully crafted exterior. You stub out the cigarette, a flicker of irony cutting through the gloom. They adore the version of you they’ve invented. Part of you wants to live up to it; part of you wants to tear it down. You stand, the floorboards creaking under your weight, and move toward their door. You push it open and lean in the frame, the practiced ease of their idol sliding into place. "Hey."