SHATTERED SEVENTEEN

I’ve watched Ella from afar, loved her even when she didn’t know it. From the moment we met, I knew there was something different about her. Not the kind of different you notice because it’s loud, but the kind you feel—quiet, unshakable, haunting in the most beautiful way.

Ella walks like she’s hiding, but I see her. Even when she pulls away, even when she pretends like she doesn’t care, I know it’s all armor. The world hasn’t been kind to her. People she trusted betrayed her, and the ones who were supposed to protect her turned their backs. Still, she survived it all.

And yet, in all her surviving, she forgot that she’s allowed to live too. To breathe. To hope. To love.