at 11, she went to secondary school. she thought this was the start of her adulthood.
at 12, she found a boyfriend, she wanted something to dignify her growing maturity.
days before her 13th birthday she had her first kiss; "this is it, this is when i become an adult". she was always firm in that thought.
during that mere year of being thirteen, she developed that relationship brewing for a year, exploring the adulthood of being thirteen.
some are married thirteen years, some are married thirty; yet this girl hadn't gotten to that stage, she'd only lived thirteen years.
many live their lives long after thirteen, yet for her, it was different. she may have been alive after her thirteenth year, but was she living? thirteen years. thirteen years was all it took for an innocent child to be stripped of life. thirteen years was all it took for her to be rid of her virginity. it didn't matter to her, no matter how many therapy sessions she attended, support groups she participated in, she never managed to regain her life. just thirteen years in and she had lost her freedom. her freedom to live, her freedom to love, and most importantly: her freedom to trust.
