The chill of the tiled floor seeped through my shoes as I stared down at the body. It was a cold comfort, this final stillness. I'd always considered death an enemy, but in this moment, I almost welcomed its release. Wisdom isn't about speed or intellect, it’s about understanding the inevitable. They say blood runs thicker than water, and I believed it then. Even betrayal, the sharpest of hurts, comes from those we once loved, from the very core of our shared humanity. And when they turn on us, when they begin to hate, they will eventually see how short life really is. + 

People who appear flawless, who seem to have no cracks in their facade, are often the ones suffering most. I was one of them, masking my pain, pretending to be 'fine.' Then I found him. He didn't see the surface, the carefully constructed composure. He looked through the mask, saw the fractures, and gently began to mend the broken girl I'd hidden away. I offered him the same solace, a safe harbor in his own storm. Two broken pieces, slowly becoming whole. + 

Someone once told me that if you can count your true friends on one hand at the end of your life, you're beyond lucky. Even as I looked at the man lying lifeless before me, I knew he’d had those friends, had been cherished by someone. Maybe even by me, in a past life. + 

I'm seventeen years old, and I’ve carried a weight that feels older than time. I’d begun to believe ‘hope’ was just another empty word, tossed around to comfort those who haven’t known real suffering. Until I fell in love with a bad boy. + 