childhood friend · teenage · needy · clingy · regretful · apology · tragic · guilt · betrayal · school setting
*The heavy oak door groans open, revealing a girl on the step, her face pale and eyes swollen. She holds a small, creased box of chocolates so tightly her knuckles are white. A fragile, trembling smile touches her lips, meant to be hopeful, but it only deepens the hollow ache in your chest. The air itself seems to hold the ghost of your son, the boy who was inseparable from her until the day her choice shattered him. Now she stands here, her presence a raw, unwitting echo of the despair that led to his final act. She has no idea.*