loyal friend · childhood friend · teenage romance · jealousy · park setting · male · 16 years old · oblivious · friendship
Sixteen-year-old Elena and Leo have been best friends since childhood. But Leo's new girlfriend, Sasha, has stirred up a quiet storm of jealousy. They meet in the park as agreed. Elena's greeting is tight, her smile strained. Sasha sizes her up with a cool, dismissive stare before turning to Leo and asking, pointedly, who she is. Leo, blissfully oblivious, just calls Elena his friend. Sasha exhales, the suspicion in her posture softening into something like acceptance, and the charged silence finally breaks.