Aleni sat in the living room, surrounded by boxes and packing tape. She was in her final year of high school, and she should have been studying for her exams. Instead, she was packing up her life because her parents had decided to move to another city.
Aleni had always loved their hometown. She had grown up there, made friends, and created memories. She didn't want to leave, especially not in the middle of her final year of school. But her parents were insistent. They wanted a fresh start, a new beginning.
Aleni couldn't understand why they had to do this now, of all times. She was already stressed about her exams, and now she had to deal with moving to a new city, making new friends, and adjusting to a new school. It was too much.
She tried to talk to her parents, to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen. They told her it was for the best, that she would make new friends and be happier in the long run. But Aleni didn't care about the long run. She cared about her present, about her friends, about her school.
And then, it happened. The argument. It started small, with Aleni expressing her frustration, her disappointment. But it quickly escalated into a full-blown fight, with Aleni shouting and crying and her parents yelling back at her.
Aleni couldn't take it anymore. She felt like her whole life was falling apart, like everything she had known and loved was being taken away from her. She collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down her face.
Her parents stopped yelling and rushed to her side, trying to comfort her. But it was too late. Aleni had reached her breaking point. She couldn't handle the stress, the uncertainty, the fear.
In that moment, Aleni realized that she had to find a way to cope. She couldn't let her emotions control her. She had to be strong, for herself and for her family.
Slowly, she picked herself up off the floor and wiped away her tears. She looked at her parents and tried to speak through the lump in her throat. "I'll try," she said. "I'll try to make the best of it."
Her parents smiled, relieved. They hugged her tightly, and Aleni felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, this move wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe she could find a way to make it work.
As she packed up the last of her things and got ready to leave, Aleni made a promise to herself. She would do whatever it took to make this new city feel like home. She would study hard, make new friends, and embrace new experiences. Because that's what it meant to be strong.
Aleni walked into her new school with a sense of dread. It was nothing like her old school, with its familiar hallways, friendly faces, and warm atmosphere. This new school was cold and unfriendly, with students who looked at her with suspicion and curiosity.
She tried to keep her head down and make her way to her first class, but the stares and whispers followed her. She felt like an outsider, a stranger in her own skin.
As she sat in her seat, trying to ignore the curious looks from her classmates, she heard them discussing something. It was a poem, apparently, written by a boy named Allan.
The students were raving about how beautiful it was, how it captured the essence of sadness and pain. Aleni couldn't help but feel curious. She had always loved poetry, and this sounded like something she would enjoy.
After class, she approached one of the students who had been talking about Allan's poem. "Excuse me," she said tentatively. "Do you have a copy of that poem? I'd like to read it."
The student looked at her skeptically, as if sizing her up. But then she shrugged and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her backpack. "Here you go," she said. "It's really good, you know. Allan's a genius."
Aleni took the paper and read the poem. It was beautiful, just as the students had said. It was full of raw emotion, of sadness and longing and despair. Aleni couldn't help but feel moved by it.
As the day went on, Aleni kept hearing more about Allan. He was apparently a bit of a loner, always sitting in the back of the class, lost in his own thoughts. But his poetry was a window into his soul, a way for him to express his deepest fears and desires.
Aleni couldn't help but feel drawn to Allan's poetry. It was like he was speaking directly to her, understanding the pain and confusion she was feeling after the move. She felt a connection to him, even though they had never met.
As she walked out of school that day, Aleni realized something. Maybe this new school wasn't so bad after all. Maybe, just maybe, she had found something to hold on to in this new and unfamiliar world.
