phone like it held some secr

tside, the night hummed with distant sounds-cars passing, dogs barking far away, the low murmur of life continuin

sat there, quie

ld understand it like this

est ti

ing

rds were safer than faces. Words didn't ask questions or expect explanation

e phrase

u for se

anonymous writing platform had always been a place of quiet for her-a space where she existed without being

ver commen

on

w why tonight

ll she knew, he could be halfway across the world. And yet, the words he had written earlier that evening

hovered over

de her presence real without making herself too visibl

nervous? s

here were no faces, no classrooms, n

er heart b

efully, deleting and rewriting tw

ds matter. They feel real.

ed at th

mbled above t

he point o

that stretched unbearab

age disa

beat, nothi

screen

t expect anyone to notic

y swa

fer

led uneasily

sked why she was so quiet, why she never joined conversations, why she preferred bo

ere, it fe

nt mean

lling to speak whe

the phone down for a moment

her, its rhythm steady and familiar. Her parents were out, her siblings

up her ph

d at her lips befor

een the girl who

t a trace of herself behind. Observing had always felt safer th

this feel

ith half-written thoughts, margins crowded with tiny handwriting and unfinished sentences.

ever saw

ding it across a desk in class. Imagine someone reading her

e her heart

e vibrat

nt to read th

y bli

felt like an invitation-one that crossed an

the conversatio

is wouldn't just be

hesi

at if this sense of being understoo

ing deeper, quieter-push

es

that, the st

appeared a few

the first. Slower

and the blanket pulled loosely arou

es forgot, whose presence was so subtle it blurred into the background. A boy who carried stories in his head but never sp

tightened with

iliar in a way that m

of invi

n of pretendi

erstood without havin

phone against her chest as if the words

cribe this so perfe

t slowly, rereading

he end, she didn't

ed before fear

know what it fee

the screen,

nt, nothin

no typing

rep

retched, and d

at was t

crossed

to set the phone aside

e too. Maybe I'm looking

ty f

ght halfway th

e who

ot to name. For years, she had told herself she didn't need to be no

asn't enti

ted to

ed at. N

e

t and closed her eyes, breathing

elt smaller. Safer. As though this tiny exchang

ight. Just a few soft messages ex

the light, Purity t

ybe you fou

resse

sm

, Purity woke ea

terns across her wall. For a moment, she lay still, diso

he rem

mess

art fl

ing the conversation to feel less real in the dayl

for school, brushing her hair a

s. Her siblings argued over cereal. Purity nodded when exp

verything lo

he same corridors

ifferent walki

open. Mrs. Daniels spoke about narrative voice-about how writers often

s pen s

of the ano

s? she wondered. Or jus

unconsciously acr

s when she

wasn't loud. Wasn't part of the group that joked constantly at the back. He b

is posture tugged

ore writing, as if co

s tensed when the cl

art sk

self quickly. Th

notebook, but concentra

g, the mess

't exchan

ask person

. About silence. About ho

you're watching life th

ared at t

. "Like everyone else knows

st feel deep

iled a

her, Purity realized something tha

nger just rea

s part

alone with his phone, realizing that the girl who had never commente