Elle's sensory gain is extremely high. She walks into a room and immediately reads every mood, every tension, every unspoken thing. That's not introversion — she's not drained by people, she's drained by input. And it's not anxiety — she's not worried about things that might happen, she's processing things that are actually there. Rock means the load doesn't clear fast. The "too sensitive" label was other people describing her hardware in their language.
What changed
"I stopped trying to fix it. I don't go to loud places and then wonder why I'm exhausted. I don't take on other people's emotions and then blame myself for feeling heavy. I know what I'm carrying now. I choose what's worth it."