199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVuhydiZ8Q
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxdIVXHZmk
The journal was exactly where I left it....half-open, page marked, the words still glowing under the yellow highlighter.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0a2PKEkwf
“If you’re reading this, I don’t want to disappear quietly.”
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaE1d7XLJu6
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.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbJaKWMbqk
Did she read it?
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGmETpgHy7
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?
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMYNWGzxfa
So I nodded, forced a smile, and sat down. Same routine. Same silence.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYVxXkqAxe
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?
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvPtcJ3r00
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.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2VGkfpr9N
I don’t know if that meant anything. Maybe it meant everything.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQSc94Vn1A
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.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtV9wJRpTUF
Then I saw it.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhFgZGbAQb
A folded piece of paper, slid into the side vent of my locker. No name. Just one short message in uneven handwriting:
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcWG0Xr0CS
“I read it. I see you. Please wait before you disappear.”
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SL2OltCsc
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.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOOrbfUNHr
No one’s ever said “I see you” and meant it. Not like that.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp96UOXco1W
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.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2MhSNj4FK
Issue#4 comes soon...And not everything stays hidden forever. Especially the pain that finally got noticed.
199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStbD32fZvf
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 🙂
and then Add to home screen.