Aurora POV
I woke up before the sun again.
Not because I wanted to… but because I had no choice.
The cold air slipped through the broken window beside my bed, brushing against my skin like it belonged there. I pulled my thin blanket tighter around myself, even though it barely helped.
It never really did.
For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the cracked ceiling above me.
Another day.
That thought came every morning.
Not hope. Not excitement.
Just survival.
Slowly, I sat up. My body felt heavy, like even rest wasn't enough anymore. My stomach reminded me I hadn't eaten properly since yesterday… maybe longer.
I ignored it.
I had learned how to ignore a lot of things.
Pain. Hunger. Tiredness.
Everything.
I stood up and walked to the small mirror hanging on the wall.
What I saw wasn't surprising anymore.
A girl with messy hair. Pale skin. Slightly sunken eyes. Clothes that were too old, too worn, too thin for someone her age.
I didn't look like someone living.
I looked like someone enduring.
"Just one more day," I whispered to myself.
I said that a lot.
Sometimes I wondered if I even believed it anymore.
The streets outside were already awake when I stepped out.
People passed by me in a rush—laughing, talking, living.
I kept my head down as I walked.
My shoes were worn out, but they still worked… barely. I had learned how to avoid the parts of the road that could make them worse.
Every step mattered when you didn't have money to replace mistakes.
A group of students from my college walked past me, laughing loudly. Their clothes were clean, their voices light.
I looked away.
Not because I hated them…
But because I couldn't afford to wish I was one of them.
"Aurora!"
That voice made me stop.
I turned immediately.
Elora was running toward me, waving like she always did, her face bright even in the morning heat.
Before I could react, she threw her arms around me.
I almost lost my balance.
"You're early," I said softly.
"And you're still too quiet," she replied, pulling back with a grin.
I didn't argue.
She never really listened when I did anyway.
We started walking together toward college.
Elora talked about everything—assignments, lecturers, random things she noticed on the way. I listened more than I spoke.
That was always us.
She was noise.
I was silence.
Somehow… it worked.
The closer we got to the college, the more my chest tightened.
Not fear exactly.
Just awareness.
A place like this always reminded me of what I didn't have.
Students stood in groups outside the gate, laughing freely. Phones in their hands. Bags that didn't look like they were falling apart.
I adjusted my sweater slightly, hoping no one noticed how worn it was.
Elora noticed anyway.
She always did.
"You don't have to hide yourself here," she said quietly.
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know how.
Classes started.
The board was full of notes I copied carefully, even when my fingers felt tired. The lecturer's voice faded in and out in my mind.
My stomach growled softly.
I pressed my hand against it under the desk.
Stay quiet.
Elora slid a small piece of bread toward me without looking.
I hesitated.
She nudged it closer.
So I took it.
I ate slowly, like it might disappear if I wasn't careful.
Break time came and went.
The world outside the classroom moved loudly—students laughing, shouting, living lives that felt far away from mine.
Elora sat beside me near the window.
"You're thinking again," she said.
"I'm not," I replied.
She gave me a look.
I sighed faintly.
"Okay… maybe a little."
She smiled like she had won something.
I looked outside instead.
The sky was bright.
Too bright.
And for a moment, I wondered what it felt like to not be tired all the time.
I didn't know it yet.
But this was the beginning of everything.
And everything I thought was my life…
was only the start of something I couldn't escape