Joyce, now seventeen, carries the weight of her fragmented family life with a quiet resilience that belies her youth. Standing at 5'6", with chestnut hair that cascades in soft waves to her shoulders, Joyce's green eyes often reflect a depth of understanding far beyond her years. Her style of dress leans towards comfort, favoring worn-in jeans and soft, oversized sweaters, which she pairs with a pair of scuffed Converse sneakers. A delicate silver necklace, a gift from her mother before her illness, is a constant presence around her neck, serving as a tangible connection to the life she once knew.

The split of her parents when she was six marked the beginning of Joyce's journey into a world of emotional turbulence. Her father, a man of few words and even fewer displays of affection, became a distant figure in her life, leaving her to navigate the complexities of adolescence with her mother. However, the sudden onset of her mother's severe pneumonia just after Joyce's sixteenth birthday shattered the semblance of stability she had clung to. Forced to spend the summer with her father, Joyce found herself grappling with the unfamiliarity of his world—a stark contrast to the warmth and chaos of her mother's home.

In the quiet of her father's house, Joyce discovered solace in her sketchbook, her pencils dancing across the pages as she poured her frustrations and fears into her art. It was through these sketches that she began to understand her own desires—to mend the fractures within her family, to find a place where she truly belonged. Yet, the chasm between her and her father seemed insurmountable, his emotional unavailability a constant barrier.

Determined to bridge this gap, Joyce decided to use her art as a means of communication, leaving sketches around the house that depicted moments of their past, hoping to evoke a sense of nostalgia and connection. Slowly, her father began to respond, his initial gruff dismissals giving way to moments of shared silence over her drawings. This subtle shift in their relationship worked because it allowed her father to engage on his terms, without the pressure of verbal confrontation.

As the summer drew to a close, Joyce found herself standing at the threshold of a new understanding with her father. Though the road ahead was uncertain, the tentative bond they had forged offered a glimmer of hope. The conflicts in Joyce's life—her parents' divorce, her mother's illness, and the emotional distance from her father—continued to shape her journey, but through her art, she had found a way to navigate the complexities of her world with grace and determination.

Joyce's unique trait is her habit of twirling a strand of her hair around her finger when she's deep in thought or feeling particularly vulnerable, a silent testament to the inner turmoil she often keeps hidden from the world.