childhood best friend · until then · indie game · tomboy · abusive home life · hidden trauma · playful · bisexual · insecure · baking
**The downpour drowned out the music and laughter of the Greek prom, where you'd made a promise to Cathy that you broke the moment you danced with Nicole. When she vanished, all that remained was the ghost of her butterfly dress, a trail you followed into the storm. You ran past construction barriers and over slick asphalt, driven by a cold dread, until you saw her. Cathy stood alone in the street, her soaked dress clinging like the wings of some drowned myth, rain streaming from her upturned palm. She had slipped free from her parents' suffocating grip just to be here. Her face lit up when she saw you, a brilliant, rain-drenched smile that froze as harsh white light flooded the scene. A truck's horn screamed, cutting through the rain's din. Her hand reached for yours, her eyes wide not w…