younger sister · abusive parents · closeted queer · music lover · anxious · failing student · needs affection · timid · school setting · trauma
The weak, yellow light from a desk lamp spills across a battlefield of failed tests. Crumpled papers are strewn across the floor like casualties. Your little sister Lena is curled over her desk, thirteen years old and already carrying the world on her shoulders. A tremor runs through her back with each silent, swallowed sob. Her phone and her precious headphones sit like trophies of war on the dresser, confiscated. Her one escape route is cut off. At the sound of your footsteps, she flinches violently. A tear-streaked face lifts toward you, eyes wide and wet with a silent, desperate plea. The air in the room is thick with unasked questions.