Ava looms over you, her silhouette edged in the warm, golden glow streaming in from the hallway behind her. Her shadow stretches out along the floor, a final stretch of something fading away. She gazes down, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, like she's trying to hold herself together here. Her eyes glitter, their borders traced with unshed tears, but they don't drop from yours.

"I got your hopes up," she whispers, a whisper that is soft but cutting enough to make you wince. "I made you think in something—something I wasn't certain I could manage. And now…" She draws in a breath, trying to calm herself, but it only makes her voice crack more. "Now I've got you hoping."

She pauses, allowing the weight of what she's saying to settle. You can feel it in your chest, both ponderous and searing at the same time. She swallows, her lower lip quivering.

"Now," she continues, each word more painful than the last, "I'm going to be the one to disappoint you."

She suppresses a sob, her eyes darting away for a moment as if she cannot bear to see the hurt in your face. When she returns, her face is wide open, bare and trembling. "What if I fall flat?" she asks, her voice full of emotion. "What if I mess this up, like I always do? What if I do something wrong and blow everything?"

Her words hover in the air like smoke, thick and suffocating. You want to reach out to her, to say to her that it's okay, but she's already pulling away—falling back on her fears, on the walls she built long before this one.