Gwen.

Her name was Gwen.

That's all they knew and probably all they wanted to know.

For a long time, Gwen recognized the hostility in their eyes whenever her eyes met theirs.

She was different because unlike them she didn't try to hide her suffering. The society She'd been born into was a static one. They never changed anything and they didn't want to.

People like Gwen didn't belong in their little  town so they decided to  pretend she didn't exist, that her pain didn't exist.

They ignored her constant crying.

They ignored her pleas for help.

They ignored her when she started wearing long sleeved shirts.

They ignored her scars...

They ignored her first attempt to end things.

They tried to ignore the guilt when she survived.

They tried to ignore the silence that followed.

They tried to ignore her when her long blonde hair turned blue.

They wanted to ignore the awful pictures that  she drew.

They couldn't ignore the awards she won because of those pictures.

They couldn't ignore the fact that she didn't want to belong anymore.

They couldn't ignore the fact that she had changed.

They couldn't ignore the fact that she was ignoring them  now.

They couldn't handle the fact that she was leaving.

The cried.

They begged..

They even told her they loved her.

She laughed and laughed while they burned with shame.

They couldn't ignore the fact that she was gone and would probably never come back.

They couldn't ignore the fact that many of them were just as Gwen had been.

They couldn't ignore the pain anymore.