Still Standing

She always waked before the alarm. She always studies a little longer, pushes a little harder, and smiles just enough for everyone else to think she's okay. High scores, perfect notes, and relentless determination... they say she's excelling, but no one notices the cost.

Her parents see potential, not exhustion. Her professors see achievement, not fatigue. And the one person who notices her deepest struggles..Taylor... can only watch as she quietly pulls herself apart to prove she's enough.

Between rankings, comparisons, and expectaions, she's suriviving in the spaces where care and understanding should have been. Every kind word feels too late. Every moment of rest seems impossible.

But life has a way of demanding truth. Through quiet confrontations, concerned professors, and the gentle insistence to truly pause, to lean, and maybe to just...be.