
45Please respect copyright.PENANAQ8OUtdOwzj
45Please respect copyright.PENANAX1O6E9YHbi
The journal was exactly where I left it....half-open, page marked, the words still glowing under the yellow highlighter.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAbFglryetUK
“If you’re reading this, I don’t want to disappear quietly.”
45Please respect copyright.PENANA9e43OsElFs
When I walked into class, Lena was already in her seat. Hoodie up, earbuds in. She looked like herself, but when she turned to say “hey,” her eyes stayed on mine for just a second longer than usual. Not in a dramatic way. Just long enough to make me wonder.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAtyMovyFuQ4
Did she read it?
45Please respect copyright.PENANA1lIghgilzp
I wanted to ask. God, I wanted to ask. But my chest locked up. Because what if she hadn’t seen it? Or worse 😳what if she had and still decided to say nothing?
45Please respect copyright.PENANAx6ZKszu8sp
So I nodded, forced a smile, and sat down. Same routine. Same silence.
45Please respect copyright.PENANACBK8gdKxiR
The day felt like it moved in slow motion. Every noise sounded far away, like I wasn’t fully inside my body. My mind kept going back to that journal 🧠those words. I’d left them there on purpose. I wanted someone to notice. Someone to finally understand what I couldn’t keep saying out loud anymore. And if Lena saw it... why wouldn’t she say something?
45Please respect copyright.PENANAFrrIvCmoP2
At lunch, Eli cracked jokes that normally would’ve pulled me in. Everyone laughed, loud and effortless. I sat with them, nodded at the right times, pretended to chew food I didn’t taste. I kept glancing at Lena from across the table. She barely touched her food. Her shoulders were tense. She didn’t say much either.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAieJRntCQpY
I don’t know if that meant anything. Maybe it meant everything.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAjxJpJKeatw
When school ended, I went back to my locker like always. I wasn’t expecting anything. Honestly, I was already planning to go home, crawl under the blanket, and feel nothing for a few more hours.
45Please respect copyright.PENANA21U5TCVzQs
Then I saw it.
45Please respect copyright.PENANATArvOQGi2X
A folded piece of paper, slid into the side vent of my locker. No name. Just one short message in uneven handwriting:
45Please respect copyright.PENANApNGsXYc00Q
“I read it. I see you. Please wait before you disappear.”
45Please respect copyright.PENANAS1pHU51Hkz
I didn’t move for a while. Just stood there, reading those lines again and again like they might vanish if I blinked too hard.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAMSIaGxZnLH
No one’s ever said “I see you” and meant it. Not like that.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAYEbecr3eQ8
And now I don’t know what scares me more
that someone finally noticed the version of me I’ve been hiding…
or that they might not be strong enough to stay.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAX2DE5Virf6
Issue#4 comes soon...And not everything stays hidden forever. Especially the pain that finally got noticed.
45Please respect copyright.PENANAE4QgOUWWYs
I spent my whole night writing this. I didn’t want it to feel fake. Just real enough for someone out there to finally say: “Same"...Thank you for the support 😊😊
It means a lot 🙂