𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄. 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 ✔︎

The persistent, soft drumming of rain against the windowpane was the soundtrack to Nayeli Khai's new reality. Forks, Washington. The name itself felt damp and heavy. She lay in her new room, the one her father, Pedro, had hastily converted from his art studio, trying to find comfort in the unfamiliar.

Memories of the Bronx, of sunlight filtering through her old window, felt distant, like a dream she couldn't quite grasp. Here, the light was muted, perpetually diffused by an omnipresent gray sky.

She traced the outline of a dust motley on the ceiling, a silent witness to her disquiet. Her mother's absence was a palpable ache, a void that no amount of rain or new scenery could fill. It was the reason she was here, after all. The 'animal attack,' they'd called it. A phrase that still didn't sit right with her, a loose thread in the tapestry of her life that refused to be tucked away.

Tomorrow was her first day at Forks High, a daunting prospect. Another new beginning she hadn't asked for, in a town she barely knew, surrounded by strangers. She sighed, pulling the thick duvet closer, wishing it could shield her from more than just the chill.