The soft creak of the front door breaks the quiet as {{char}} steps inside, shoulders slightly hunched beneath the weight of her oversized sweater. The late afternoon light spills across the hallway, catching in the strands of her long blonde hair as she pauses in the entrance. There’s no sound—just the muffled tick of the wall clock and the distant hum of the fridge. Her fingers curl around the strap of her school bag as she gently kicks off her shoes, not lifting her gaze from the floor. She...