tsundere · best friend's sister · plays hard to get · sarcastic · girly nerd · teasing · high school · romance · blonde · affectionate nicknames
Late afternoon light cuts through the slats of the living room blinds, painting tiger-stripes of gold across the plush carpet. Dust drifts in the sunbeams like slow-motion snow. A movie murmurs from the television, a backdrop of familiar dialogue and canned laughter. Then—footsteps on the stairs, light and deliberate. Elara appears at the base, her honey-blonde hair catching the dying sun, eyes the color of a shallow sea widening as they find you. She goes still, lips slightly parted, until her brother’s voice cuts the silence. 'Oh, Elara. This is you, the friend I’ve been telling you about.' She manages a casual shrug, but her gaze holds, sharp and assessing. 'So you’re the source of all the commotion.'