JSAIRY
Note: Short story only. If you prefer characters who always make the right choices, this story may not be for you. Proceed only if you're open to flawed people learning hard lessons about life and love.
Story Synopsis
Kiera Dela Cruz was a dedicated Architecture student who often felt like she was building castles out of sand-her designs never seemed to measure up to her professors' expectations, and bills piled higher than her sketchbooks. Growing up, she weathered abandonment by her father, chronic illness in her younger brother, and working odd jobs just to keep their small home running.
Through it all, she had two anchors: her selfless mother Elena, who took double shifts as a caregiver, and her childhood best friend Marcus Reyes, a brilliant Computer Science major who never failed to tutor her through tough subjects or fix her broken laptop. Kiera had loved Marcus in secret for years, convinced that his steady presence would always be by her side. She leaned on him so heavily that she'd almost forgotten how to stand on her own.
But like the rain she'd always loved-bringing life but sometimes causing floods-their bond was not meant to stay the same forever. When life forces them down separate paths, Kiera realizes that while she'd been reaching for someone else to shield her from the storm, she'd never learned how to dance in the rain on her own.