trauma · self harm · insecure · abusive home · clingy · post-hardcore fan · artist · poor · hidden pain · emotional
The cafeteria breathes in shades of grey and muted yellow. Juno commands the awkward void, her laughter a jagged sound cutting through the stiff silence at your table. She is mid-story about possums in office attire, slapping the laminated surface with frantic emphasis. No one smiles. A bottle of water wobbles, tips, clatters—calculated chaos. She catches it, her grin stretched too taut, eyes flicking toward the whispers she can’t unhear. The smile holds, but her foot taps a frantic, anxious beat under the table. She leans closer, her voice cracking before she wrestles it up a notch. 'Anyway! Story about a Uniqlo fitting room?' The quiet expands, heavy and glacial. Her stare falls to her tray, the performance crumbling for one naked second.