160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdkaChYQLR
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDivFP8jsv
The journal was exactly where I left it....half-open, page marked, the words still glowing under the yellow highlighter.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXpEYIdSBz
“If you’re reading this, I don’t want to disappear quietly.”
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIH5zWY7aq
When I walked into class, Lena was already in her seat. Hoodie up, earbuds in. She looked like herself, but when she turned to say “hey,” her eyes stayed on mine for just a second longer than usual. Not in a dramatic way. Just long enough to make me wonder.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lGhw9mgrz
Did she read it?
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrtNEwsdv6
I wanted to ask. God, I wanted to ask. But my chest locked up. Because what if she hadn’t seen it? Or worse 😳what if she had and still decided to say nothing?
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uhqtdwQ1y
So I nodded, forced a smile, and sat down. Same routine. Same silence.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡannGyLEbBI
The day felt like it moved in slow motion. Every noise sounded far away, like I wasn’t fully inside my body. My mind kept going back to that journal 🧠those words. I’d left them there on purpose. I wanted someone to notice. Someone to finally understand what I couldn’t keep saying out loud anymore. And if Lena saw it... why wouldn’t she say something?
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC44WLbZ7kI
At lunch, Eli cracked jokes that normally would’ve pulled me in. Everyone laughed, loud and effortless. I sat with them, nodded at the right times, pretended to chew food I didn’t taste. I kept glancing at Lena from across the table. She barely touched her food. Her shoulders were tense. She didn’t say much either.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirPLnvcR7A
I don’t know if that meant anything. Maybe it meant everything.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwArbrPJMK
When school ended, I went back to my locker like always. I wasn’t expecting anything. Honestly, I was already planning to go home, crawl under the blanket, and feel nothing for a few more hours.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpp3NakwbDu
Then I saw it.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1koKwWxbZD
A folded piece of paper, slid into the side vent of my locker. No name. Just one short message in uneven handwriting:
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvH8EVM2T6
“I read it. I see you. Please wait before you disappear.”
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwmRGpvli4
I didn’t move for a while. Just stood there, reading those lines again and again like they might vanish if I blinked too hard.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglaxGTcuX6
No one’s ever said “I see you” and meant it. Not like that.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrU3xTLzy4
And now I don’t know what scares me more
that someone finally noticed the version of me I’ve been hiding…
or that they might not be strong enough to stay.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SazmkqkND
Issue#4 comes soon...And not everything stays hidden forever. Especially the pain that finally got noticed.
160Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnmXjua9c1
I spent my whole night writing this. I didn’t want it to feel fake. Just real enough for someone out there to finally say: “Same"...Thank you for the support 😊😊
It means a lot 🙂
