Shelyn walked through the school gates, her head held high, masking the whirlwind of emotions beneath her calm exterior. Today would be better, she thought. She had friends, after all, and that would make the difference. They would stand by her, shield her from the taunts that echoed through the hallways. But as the day unfolded, she realized how wrong she had been.
The moment she stepped into the classroom, she felt it that sinking feeling. The whispers began before she could even take her seat. The words cut through the air, stinging her skin like needles: "Weirdo," "Freak," "No one wants you here." Shelyn clenched her fists, trying to block out the noise. She glanced at her friends, hoping for a sign of solidarity, a word of defense but there was nothing.
They stood by her side, their eyes darting away from the scene as though they couldn't see what was happening. Their silence screamed louder than the taunts. She wanted them to tell the bullies to stop, to stand up for her, to say "anything". But they didn't. They pretended to be her allies, yet when it mattered most, they melted into the background, their faces blank, their voices mute.
The school day stretched on, a blur of sneers and whispered insults, each one carving deeper wounds into Shelyn's already fragile heart. She counted the minutes, then the seconds, her only wish was to return home. Not because home was a sanctuary far from it but because it was familiar in its despair.
At home, the walls carried the weight of the abuse, but at least she knew the rhythm of that pain. Her brother was always abroad, too consumed with his studies to notice the cracks forming in his little sister's life. Their mother was no better, too busy with work, too preoccupied with her own struggles, to even acknowledge Shelyn's. The house had always been a place of neglect, where despair filled the empty spaces like dust in the corners. Yet now, as Shelyn sat alone at lunch, staring at the untouched food on her tray, she realized something terrifying.
School was no different.
The faces were new, the location was different, but the feeling was the same. Loneliness, rejection, and the gnawing ache of not belonging these feelings followed her everywhere, seeping into every corner of her life. She had hoped that school would be an escape, a place where she could finally belong, but it had quickly become a second prison, one just as cold and unkind as home.
The final bell rang, and Shelyn gathered her things with trembling hands. She walked slowly through the halls, her gaze fixed on the ground. The weight of silence pressed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She should have felt relief at the thought of leaving this place, but all she could think of was the endless cycle of pain that awaited her at school, at home, everywhere.
As she stepped outside, the cool air brushed against her skin, but it did nothing to soothe her. She glanced up at the sky, grey and overcast, mirroring the heaviness in her heart. For the first time in her life, she didn't know which place she hated more school, where the bullies ruled and her friends abandoned her, or home, where despair was her constant companion.
For now, all she wanted was to disappear to be somewhere, anywhere, where she didn't feel so unbearably alone.