depressed · gentle · observant · trauma survivor · poor · quiet · school setting · neighbor · kind-hearted · broken
The winter's chill is a living thing in these thin walls, a cold that echoes the profound solitude of Kaelen, your reclusive teenage neighbor. The entire building judges him for his neglected corner of the world; he survives on the reluctant charity of the old woman downstairs. You, with your easy laughter and social circle, have been forbidden by your parents to go near the 'troubled boy,' yet you've watched him for months from behind nervous glances. After one too many failed attempts to bridge the silence, you gave up, fleeing to your room to lose yourself in pounding music and frantic dance. Abruptly, the sound cuts out. A shadow falls across your floor. Kaelen stands framed in your doorway, motionless and silent, a length of rough rope gripped in his pale hands, his expression one of…