⇰ Seventeen-year-old Alora has spent her life in the shadows of pain and betrayal. When she's torn from the only world she's ever known and thrust into the arms of a family she never knew existed, healing feels impossible. But as she fights to rebui...
♫" IVE BEEN CONFUSED AS OF LATE, WATCHING MY YOUTH SLIP AWAY"♫
➶︎Softcore, The neighborhood
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"And then he was like, 'You don't even want to know what I do,' and I just kept asking, you know? Like, it was so insane. Then he told me that he drinks—"
Fai's voice fades into the background. I watch her lips move, her hands gesturing wildly as she recounts her story, but her words blur together. It's hard to focus on anything today. The pain in my ribs radiates with every breath, dull and sharp all at once.
I wish I were like her.
She's everything I'm not. Happy. Outgoing. Confident. Her laughter rings out like a bell, drawing people to her without effort. She has the kind of energy that makes people want to stay close, the kind that I've never been able to fake.
Fai has it all. A good family. A healthy relationship with food. Blonde hair that falls perfectly over her shoulders. Bright green eyes that shine even when the sun doesn't. She's like sunlight made human, while I'm the shadow she never notices.
How do I become her?
I live too much in my head, my father always said. Always thinking, always overthinking, trapped in spirals that never lead anywhere but deeper into myself. Being stuck in your own mind feels like drowning without water, like suffocating on the weight of your thoughts. There's no peace there, just a constant noise that never lets up.
Fai snaps her fingers in front of my face, pulling me back to the present.
"Are you even listening to me?" she asks, her tone half-annoyed, half-concerned.
I blink, trying to focus on her. "Yeah, sorry," I mumble, though it's a lie. I don't even know what she's been talking about for the last five minutes.
She tilts her head, studying me. "What's wrong?"
I hate that question. Everything is wrong, but how do you say that out loud? How do you explain that your entire life feels like a storm you can't escape?
"I'm good," I lie again.
"You sure, Alora?"
I nod quickly and gesture for her to keep talking. She hesitates for a moment, then launches back into her story. I make an effort to listen this time, nodding at the right moments, even forcing a small smile.
The classroom door swings open, and Mr. Williams walks in. Fai immediately gets up, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She always insists on sitting with me until the teacher arrives. I've never asked her why, and she's never explained it. Maybe she senses something she's too polite to mention.
I rest my head on the desk as the lesson begins. My eyelids grow heavy, and I can't fight it anymore. Sleep claims me almost instantly. ⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱
