❝In which two people call up a helpline in order to find someone just as broken as they are. ❞
"Does...does it bother you that my dad's in prison for murder?"
"Well, judging by the fact that I moved away from America to get away from the memory of a...
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Maddie stared at herself in the mirror, attempting to see what everyone else saw when they looked at her. For some reason, that particular thought had become incredibly important. Seeing the beauty of others had always occurred so easily that she had never taken the time to truly stop and look at herself. And, now that she had, she almost wished that she hadn't. Because, just like ripples on a clear water's surface, only the creases in perfection were what stood out to her. And she could see all the other girls: The tall, white, blonde, thin girls who were flawless in every sense of the word. And then she looked back at herself, water droplets blurring her reflection as a shower of doubt hailed down upon her. And the sharp shards of ice cut into her skin like blades, opening both old and new wounds as she collapsed to the floor of her bedroom. Because, as sweet and truly apologetic as the breakup had been, the boy she loved had not once mentioned her outward beauty. And now it seemed that lack of allure was the reason for their parting.
Which, of course, could not have been further from the truth. Elliot had simply felt no need to remind a beautiful girl of what she should already know. Complimenting her inner beauty had seemed so much more flattering, so much more important that he felt no desire to express the map of charm that was her face. But, as a boy, he had forgotten that girls tended to be extremely sensitive about these things (as boys often did) and misjudged the amount a few unsaid words could say.
