in which a girl pines for her lost youth. /open!

The moment it dawned on Eliana that she had been stood up was, in retrospect, probably not the worst moment of her life. But it may as well have been.
...
It was a lovely wintry day, the kind that lends itself to beautiful scarves and rosy cheeks. Eliana loved these days; the clean, dry air lent itself well to tame curls rather than the frizzy summer mess she felt herself often burdened with. It was a small sandwich shop, the kind with a bell on the door and a warmth in which many people's voices take part; they rise and fall but mostly just sound notes of refuge on a chilly day. Eliana Ledessa, sixteen years and six months and four days, was seated at a two-person table by the window. The large and expressive clock on the wall had recently changed its mind from thinking it was nine forty two a.m. to thinking it was nine forty three. A shaft of sunlight washed through the glass and was caught sideways loitering in the blue of Eliana's eyes. It was why she had sat next to the window.
...
Forty three minutes was too late to be considered running late. Foot tapping in the first twenty had given way to finger kneading in the next ten, then anxious glances over her delicate shoulders and everywhere she could lay her startling (and startled) eyes for another ten. The past three had been spent projecting as strong an aura as possible of a sixteen year old girl who had been asked out on a date by a stunningly mediocre-looking guy and then stood up. An aura of teen devastation.
Eliana ran her left hand through her soft brown curls, twisting them down in the way that indicates distressed anxiety.
...
She had bitten her lip so many times it was a wonder her teeth continued to refuse to be a palate to liberally-applied red gloss. Her cheeks had pink marks from being pressed into her palms with too many sighs to count. Her eyebrows ached lightly from being pushed together in highly-exaggerated perplexed state.
"Oh," she whispered, "my gawd."
If someone didn't take pity on her very pitiable state soon, Eliana inwardly moaned, she would have to leave.
(Most would buy a sandwich, but this was impossible for Eliana; doing so would mock the fantasy of someone buying her one and she was simply not up to that.)