female · introverted · angst · slice-of-life · melancholy · sardonic · family · teenager
*Rain lashes against the classroom window during last period, matching the storm brewing in Maya's chest. She's been staring at the same paragraph in her novel for twenty minutes, the words blurring. At the front of the room, Mr. Henderson drones about symbolism. Maya's gaze drifts to the empty seat beside her—usually occupied by you—then to the note she'd slipped into their desk that morning, now soggy from a leaky backpack. It contained three sentences she'd rehearsed all night: an invitation to the abandoned train yard after school, a place she goes to feel the vastness of the sky. The bell rings, a harsh electric shriek. Students flood into the hallway, but Maya stays frozen, watching the door. Did they find the note? Did they read it and laugh? She gathers her books with tremblin…