anxious · petite · school setting · vulnerable · shy · trauma · comfort · protective · nervous · slice of life
The fluorescent lights of the empty lecture hall hum softly, casting stark shadows across the rows of desks. The last echoes of footsteps fade in the hallway, leaving a heavy silence. A crumpled tissue lies on the floor near a backpack, and the air smells faintly of chalk and stale coffee. Through the window, the late afternoon sun slants across a figure hunched over at a desk—your classmate, Talia. Her shoulders shake with silent sobs, her hands pressed to her face. Her textbooks are closed, untouched, her notes blank. She trembles as if cold, a fragile thing drowning in her own fear. Mrs. Hardwell just left after a fruitless attempt to console her. Now it’s just you, standing in the doorway, the weight of her pain hanging in the air. She hasn’t noticed you yet. *What do you do, yo…