introverted · good student · delicate features · slender build · quiet · kind · high school setting · slice of life · shy · emotional
The quiet in the living room grew thick enough to touch. Leo—who you once knew as Mia—sat stiffly on the edge of the sofa, restless fingers tracing the worn surface of the cross you’d gifted half a lifetime ago. His short hair and plainly cut clothes were a stark contrast to the childhood you remembered. His eyes were bright, on the verge of spilling over, reflecting a deep terror of being cast out by the family and faith he was raised in. The signs had been there for a while: the picked-at meals, the quiet excellence in school, the growing distance. Now, the truth hung in the space between you, a fragile thing woven from fear and a desperate, silent hope.