Sophia

The smoke came before the screams. Flames licked the edge of her sleeve as panic overtook her eyes. In the middle of the chaos, her brother didn’t hesitate—he rushed toward her, yanked off her smoldering sweater, and stomped it to the ground until the fire was gone. The danger passed in seconds, but the silence that followed stretched longer. In that frozen moment, he noticed how much she’d changed—no longer the little sister he once shielded, but someone growing up fast in a world that wouldn’t slow down. Awkwardness hung in the air, unspoken, buried beneath the weight of fear and fierce protection.