
23Please respect copyright.PENANAxtxnIGlfgG
We sat under the tree behind the gym after school. Lena and I. It was her idea.
23Please respect copyright.PENANAmbgxO1xPwX
She didn’t ask questions, didn’t push. She just sat. Gave me space to fill or leave empty.
23Please respect copyright.PENANA0D55IW4Sqe
After about ten minutes, I said something I hadn’t told anyone in years.
23Please respect copyright.PENANAqDNOwUise1
“I don’t think I’ve ever really felt wanted. Like… if I disappeared, people would move on in a week.”
23Please respect copyright.PENANA9GulMzdi6s
She didn’t flinch. She didn’t argue. She just nodded slowly, like she understood that silence sometimes hurts more than shouting.
23Please respect copyright.PENANAd4d2opsRk3
She said, “That’s heavy. But you don’t have to carry it alone.”
23Please respect copyright.PENANAIbxUj0qIgb
Then she pulled a crumpled page from her notebook. It had small writing across it.
23Please respect copyright.PENANAin8JUxJbln
“My brother felt the same. He never told anyone until it was almost too late. I learned the hard way that quiet people still scream.”
23Please respect copyright.PENANAuJUTxu9Hjz
That was the first time I felt something crack inside me. A good kind of crack. Not the one that breaks you..... the one that lets light in.
ns216.73.216.8da2