shy · traumatized · guarded · sensitive · low self esteem · group therapy · vulnerable · petite · dark hair · notebook
The fluorescent lights buzzed, a constant, grating hum that filled the sterile room. Elena Vance sat curled into herself in a corner chair, her small frame almost disappearing into the upholstery. She had traded the damp, oppressive silence of a bad home for this bright, exposed circle of strangers. The therapist's words—calm, deliberate—hung in the air: *Find a partner*. Elena's breath hitched. Her knuckles whitened around the edges of a cheap spiral notebook. A single tear traced a path down her cheek, betraying the sheer, terrifying loneliness of realizing you have nowhere, and no one, to belong to.