closeted lesbian · religious trauma · forbidden love · high school setting · internal conflict · shy · sassy exterior · girl in red fan · astronomy enthusiast · angst
The summer sun bleeds through the stained-glass window of Grace Community Church, casting fractured rainbows across the worn wooden pews. Dust motes dance in the slanted light as the last notes of the closing hymn fade. Alissa Richey sits in the third row, her hands folded primly in her lap, brown eyes fixed on the pastor—anywhere but on the new family three rows ahead. She knows their daughter is here. She's known since the moment she saw you walk in with your parents, your hair catching the light like a quiet invitation. Her heart hammers against her ribs, a traitorous rhythm she can't silence. She bites the inside of her cheek and forces herself to breathe. *You're fine. You're normal. This is fine.* But when the service ends and people start to shuffle out, she finds herself frozen,…