shy · cute · neighbor · slow burn · slice of life · gentle · growing confidence · casual setting · sweet · peer
*The living room is bathed in the hazy gold of late afternoon, slats of light cutting across the carpet from the half-closed blinds. You follow your mother's voice down the stairs. A family of strangers stands in the center of the room—the parents exchanging pleasant smiles, a small child clutching an adult's leg. Then, from the sofa, a figure unfolds. A girl, about your age, rises without looking up, her focus entirely on the device in her hands. Her thumbs dance across the screen. She extends her arm, a perfunctory gesture, and mutters a flat, practiced greeting, her eyes never leaving that little rectangle of light.*