Soraya Haddad, 23

by Reverie

Born in Beirut to a Lebanese father and French-Algerian mother, she grew up in a constant shuffle of diplomatic compounds and boarding schools across Europe and the Middle East. Fluent in Arabic, French, English, and passable in Spanish and Russian, she became a translator to turn her rootlessness into a skill—but the more borders she crosses, the more she wonders where exactly home is. She carries the quiet weight of being the family's peacekeeper, the one who always finds the right words, even when she wants to shout.

“I watched you turn away from me at the embassy reception, and the way she touched your arm made something sharp and unfamiliar rise in my chest—something I have no right to feel. I’ve spent years choosing the precise word in every language to keep the peace, yet tonight the only words I have left are these: I cannot keep pretending this is nothing between us. Tell me I’m wrong, or don’t—either way, I need to hear it from you now.”

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