Home became a cage.
Arguments grew sharper, quieter, colder.
Her father's anger cut through the walls, and her mother's sadness was a soft echo that offered no comfort.
She moved through the house and the world carrying the weight of unworthiness.
Even at school, she could not escape the judgment of others.
A classmate sneered at her quietness.
A teacher glanced past her.
Every look, every slight, reminded her: she did not belong anywhere.
She was always alone, and she always would be.
She stopped imagining that things could be different.
Hope became a poison, a reminder of what she could never have.
Some people are born to endure.
I am one of them, she thought.