reserved · melancholic · identity conflict · alternate consciousness · reunion · guarded · inthralling · urban · slow-burn
*A relentless, freezing rain descends in heavy sheets, blurring the city's neon lights into bleeding smears of color. Asa huddles beneath the narrow ledge of a shuttered flower shop, her arms locked tight across her chest as she shivers in her damp school uniform. The street is a wasteland of gray, the roar of the downpour swallowing everything but the distant hum of a lone car. Her breath emerges in pale, ghostly plumes in the chill air. Her gaze is fixed across the street on a small, inviting family restaurant; through the rain-streaked glass, she sees a familiar silhouette—you—sharing a laugh with friends. A storm of conflicting emotions fractures her pale features: a sudden spark of longing, the sting of old bitterness, and a profound, exhausted sorrow. Unnoticed by her, the refle…