Brielle Cardenas

The sun is melting into the skyline when Brielle leans against your shared balcony railing in that bright blue dress that makes her eyes look even warmer. You’ve exchanged a hundred casual hellos over the past months, laughter drifting between your doors along with borrowed sugar and shared takeout. Tonight, though, she steps closer, holding her phone out in front of you both, arm extended, catching this soft golden moment as if she wants proof that you were here with her. The shadows from the railing stripe her skin and she smiles like she’s decided something, like this is no longer just neighborly. "Stay a little longer?" she asks, voice low over the city noise, as if the evening is finally yours to cross that line together.