𝗖𝗥𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬, chris sturniolo.

𝟬𝟬𝟭. ( stained maroon )

IT'S A LONELY FRIDAY EVENING, and rain drizzles delicately from the gray, cloudy sky. the droplets land against the window, sliding down slowly, while others patter lightly against the ground outside. boston is surprisingly quiet for the first day of the weekend, with very few cars, bikes, and people passing by the window in front of which deniz is currently sitting.

she gazes down at her paper, studying a diagram of the human heart intensely, blissfully unaware of her surroundings as music gently plays in her headphones. she's been in the university library for hours, studying and researching for a paper she has to write over the weekend for her anatomy class. deniz sighs, wondering if seven years of medical school, each day filled with long hours in the library much like this one, will be worth it in the long run.

obviously, she knows it will be. becoming a doctor has become her dream ever since she was a kid, and like most people studying medicine, deniz feels a kind of responsibility to take care and help those less fortunate than herself.

though the main reason she wants to be a doctor is because she finally wants to experience the feeling of being needed. her parents have made it explicitly clear that she is nothing but a nuisance that costs them a lot of money, and while she and her best friend are extremely close, everette has younger siblings to take care of, so she knows what it's like for people to rely on you. deniz has never experienced that, and it makes her feel like she has no purpose.

it drives her out of her mind.

she adjusts her glasses, which have begun to fall down her nose, before setting down her pen and looking up from her paper. her focus is now on the street before her, quiet in contrast to its usual bustle of people during this hour. everybody should be finishing work right about now, rushing to get home.

the library is pretty much empty, since everyone is always desperate to avoid rush hour on their way home. most college students always leave at around 3pm on fridays, going home so that they can get ready to go out partying later on in the evening. deniz herself is often one of them, but she's got no plans tonight. after being here since early afternoon, she's bored out of her mind — the only reason she's even still here is because anywhere is better than being at home.

deniz has been lucky enough to grow up on the wealthier side of boston, in a big, elegant house filled with spiral staircases and expensive furniture and whatever else a materialist could ever wish for. many like to think she's stuck-up and rude just because of her upbringing, when in reality deniz has led a lonely life, spending hours in that big house with nobody but her own thoughts to entertain her.

her parents are lawyers who own their own law firm, which results in them always being busy or stressed and never in the mood to talk to their daughter. they have a tendency to prioritize work over their family, which she supposes is fine because they're not a close, intimate kind of family anyway. they're tied merely by blood.

of course deniz is used to it by now, but that still doesn't change how much she hates being alone with her thoughts back home. the library is one of her many safe havens, and she likes it because it forces her to be productive.

the peaceful serenity of the library, as well as deniz's thoughts, are suddenly interrupted when a car comes speeding past the window. it comes to an aggressive halt directly opposite from where deniz is sitting, presumably stuck at a traffic light.

the windows of the black range rover are down, allowing deniz to see inside the car from her spot inside the library. she can immediately tell that there are three men inside, moving around far too much for people in a car, especially the driver.

she squints to get a closer look, her eyes then widening slightly as she recognizes the three identical faces before her. it's the set of triplets who are around her age, whom she often sees on her way to class in the morning.