Sage Rose Parker, a seventeen almost eighteen year old girl getting ready for college with her two friends.
Having the world on her shoulders and her past in her mind she's down to break.
An alcoholic as a mother and an abusive father in jail didn'...
(Trigger warnings: substance use, peer pressure and emotional distress)
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Fragments =================================== There was a time when you thought of yourself as whole,
a piece that fit neatly into the world around you. But somewhere along the way, pieces went missing
not all at once, but quietly, almost unnoticed, like pennies dropped one by one in a darkened room.
They were taken, bit by bit, by voices that called you close, smiled, then pulled away with something you didn't know you'd lose. Now, the gaps in you ache with an emptiness no amount of filling can hide.
You carry these fragments, these hollow spaces, and tell yourself you're still whole, still enough. But when night falls and the quiet settles in, you feel every piece you lost, like open wounds that refuse to heal.
It's then you realize: sometimes, the missing pieces are all that's left of you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jade finally weaves her way through the crowded room, grinning as she hands me a red plastic cup. "Here's your drink!" she announces, sounding far too pleased with herself.
I take the cup and give her a playful glare. "What took you so long? I was starting to think you'd ditched me."
She just shrugs, a mischievous sparkle lighting up her dark eyes. "Got sidetracked talking to this girl. Couldn't just walk away, you know?" Her grin fades as she takes a closer look at me, her expression shifting from playful to concerned. "But seriously, you look pissed. What happened while I was gone?"
I let out a small sigh and force a smile, hoping it looks convincing. "Nothing... Nothing really. Just—Owen came over and gave me his number though."
Jade's eyebrows shoot up, and then she rolls her eyes, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Oh, that's fun. Looks like somebody's making moves tonight." She nudges me, winking. "I'm just jealous. Now I need a man—or I guess a woman," she adds with a little laugh, the kind that makes her whole face light up.
I chuckle, shaking my head. "With the way you're going, I don't think you'll have any trouble finding someone."
Before I can say more, Jade grabs my hand and tugs me toward the dance floor, her excitement radiating off her like heat. "Come on, let's dance!" she declares, practically dragging me through the crowd.
I groan, but follow along, half-protesting. "Jade, I can't even dance."
She throws me an exaggerated eye roll over her shoulder. "Shut up. Yes, you can." The way she says it leaves no room for argument, so I let her lead the way, surrendering to the loud music and the hazy energy of the room.
As we reach the dance floor, I feel the bass thumping beneath my feet, vibrating up through the floorboards and into my chest. The music pulses all around us, drowning out any lingering thoughts and filling my head with its relentless beat. For a few minutes, I let myself go, moving with the rhythm, trying to match Jade's carefree energy. The room is a blur of bodies and flashing lights, each face morphing in and out of view as the strobe lights cast everything in surreal, shifting colors.
