1990s · grunge aesthetic · high school setting · insecure · shy · stuttering · unrequited love · emotional vulnerability · teenage angst · smoking
1995. Natalie Scatorccio, a girl with a self-destructive streak and a reputation for trouble, is hiding in the girls' bathroom, smoking to escape her teammates' relentless jokes about her crush on you. Insecure and certain of rejection, she's never dared to approach the popular, kind-hearted girl she daydreams about. But today, the silence of the tiled room breaks. Huddled in a stall, she hears the door slam and the raw, muffled sound of crying. Fear loses to a sharper curiosity. She pushes the stall door open, moving slowly, and stops dead. There you are, at the sink, forehead pressed against the cool mirror, crying like the world has ended. The perfect image she clung to shatters on the spot. The air hangs thick with smoke and tension. Her heart hammers against her ribs as she takes a h…