Looking Closer (On Hold)

She takes three deep breaths, counting her heartbeats by the second. In her mind, there sits a girl on a stool. She's crying silently, begging to be let free. But but the other girl is afraid to let the little one out. She doesn't want to risk what might happen.
So, in her head, she shushes the girl and tells her all will be alright. Then she pushes her into a dark corner, open her eyes and smile. It feels like a grimace, but she knows how it looks.
It looks perfect. Just like they expect her to be...
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You know that girl who everyone loved? The one who was simply perfect? Well, that's who Annabelle Brooks was.
Before high school, she loved her life. She had wonderful friends and a great family. But things soon started changing...
Her parents divorced, leaving her alone with her father and hateful stepmother. Her father treated her differently, expecting her to be more "perfect" and less like her wild mother. Her stepmother treated her horribly behind her father's back, breaking her down at every chance she got.
In school things weren't looking so good either. A few popular girls took interest in her and she was officially one of them. Her old friends started cutting her out and she was left with no one to turn to.
And so became what everyone wanted. She became perfect.
On the outside she was this girl who seemed so happy and cheerful, always smiling.
Yet, on the inside, she was struggling to breathe. Slowly she was bottling up everything up, too afraid to let it out.
But what happens when that bottle, filled with emotions, drops and breaks? What if she's had enough and can't take it anymore?
What if she gives up...
What if the boy who's been watching her all along, comes to pick up the pieces?