ログインBefore I knew it, the New Year was here.The last few weeks had slipped by quietly like the world was giving me space to gather whatever shattered pieces of myself were left. The days were soft, nothing dramatic, nothing sharp enough to reopen wounds. Just… healing. Slow, reluctant healing.The doctor had come by three times a week, redoing my stitches, checking the beat of the heart inside me like it was a fragile machine that needed constant monitoring. He pressed his stethoscope to my chest each time with a seriousness that made my breath freeze. And every time he said, “Your heart sounds strong,” something warm and unfamiliar spread through me. Relief. Hope. Maybe both.Things with Adeline and her parents had been… unexpectedly good. Better than good. Strange, in a comforting way.It was different from how life used to be. After my dad died, home stopped feeling like home. It became a place where I tried not to breathe too loudly. A place where talking about him was like poking at
Adeline stared at me like she didn’t hear me properly the first time.“You did what!?” she practically yelled, her eyes wide and round like she was seeing a ghost.Heat rushed up my neck. I looked down at my hands, and my fingers were fidgeting with each other like they were trying to run away from the conversation. “It’s… very bad,” I muttered, the words tasting heavy.She didn’t look scared of me though. If anything, she reached for two packets of chips like she was preparing herself for a dramatic movie reveal. She tore both open, handed one to me, then grabbed a can of Coke. “Tell me every detail,” she said, settling back with a seriousness that almost made me laugh.I stared at the chips in my hand. My stomach twisted. I knew this moment would come eventually, someone asking, someone wanting the full story. And honestly… I was tired of carrying all of it alone. My chest always felt tight. Like I was holding my breath for months without realizing.So I took a small breath, met Ade
Adeline told me to close my eyes.At first, I laughed because I honestly thought she was joking. “What? Why?” I asked, trying not to smile too much, but failing. It felt strange, that tiny lift in my chest. It had been forever since something made me smile without force.“It’s a surprise, remember?” she said, and I could hear the excitement in her voice.I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see it. “Better don’t let me trip,” I warned her, half-joking, half-serious. Knowing me, I would probably face-plant on the grass and break my rib.“You won’t fall, don’t worry,” she said, already giggling. “Noww… okay, move to your left…”Her hand rested on my arm, light but steady, and I let her lead me. “Few steps more,” she said. “One…. two…. three… and… stop!”I could hear her smile. It was amusing how a person’s smile could be reflected in their voice.“You can open your eyes,” she said, but this time she sounded nervous. I opened my eyes.And the sight actually pulled the breath right
I stared at the tray of food on my bed, my stomach twisting the same way it had for days. The smell wasn’t bad. Nothing was wrong with the food. I just… couldn’t eat. I took a spoonful only because I needed to swallow my medicine. Hunger wasn’t even part of my body anymore, everything inside me felt tired.I finished the small portion I forced down and pushed the tray aside. The room felt like it was closing in on me, so I stepped out to the balcony with a book in my hand. Not that I was fond of books, but I just wanted to read because doing nothing made the thoughts in my head louder. I sat down, pulled my knees up, and pretended to read the same paragraph again and again. I wasn’t absorbing anything. My mind was somewhere else entirely.The door opened quietly behind me.I didn’t even look up because I thought it was one of the workers coming to pick up the tray. But then I heard soft footsteps. Before I could say anything, Adeline walked right out to the balcony, sat beside me, and
TESSA.I jerked awake with a sharp gasp.For a second, I didn’t know where I was. All I could see was darkness, thick and heavy, pressing against my chest. My heart slammed against my ribs, each beat too fast, too loud. Sweat clung to my neck and soaked the collar of my shirt. My hands trembled as I lifted them in front of me, but they wouldn’t stop shaking.The nightmare… it still clung to me like smoke.My mother shot my father.And my father’s eyes were wide, confused, then suddenly empty.I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push the image away, but it stayed burned into the back of my mind. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe. I wrapped my arms around myself, digging my nails into my skin just to feel something real, something that wasn’t that moment.A knock sounded at my door, so gentle it almost blended with the thundering in my ears.“Tessa?” a soft voice called.Before I could answer, the door cracked open, and warm light spilled into the room. Mabel stepped insid
JAXSONI kept slamming my fists into the heavy punching bag until the chain holding it up began to rattle. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My knuckles crashed into the leather again and again, each hit harder than the last, until the metal groaned above me. One final punch—too hard, too desperate—snapped the chain clean off. The bag dropped to the floor with a hard, echoing thud that shook the entire underground room.I stood there, breath tearing out of me in sharp, uneven bursts. Sweat ran from my hair down my face and stung my eyes. My hands throbbed, my knuckles burning, but the pain didn’t touch the anger inside me. It didn’t touch anything I actually felt.Nothing was enough. I stared at the fallen bag like it had offended me. Like breaking it would somehow make the last month make sense. It didn’t.I wiped my face with my forearm and walked toward the table. My hand shook as I grabbed the glass. I didn’t even bother to sit, I just threw the whiskey back in one swallow. It burned all