Puberty didn’t save her.
While other girls bloomed into curves and confidence, Hope’s body remained a battleground - too soft, too large, too different. Her face thinned, but not enough. Her skin cleared, but her reflection remained a stranger. The bullying didn’t stop; it simply evolved. They no longer pushed her in the hallways - now they used silence like a blade.
They ignored her. Or worse - they used her. For homework, for notes, for favors. She always said yes. She thought maybe if she made herself useful, someone might care. They never did.
At home, things were just as empty. Her father drank more. Her mother aged faster. There were nights Hope would hear them fighting softly, like two ghosts arguing in the dark. She’d press her hands to her ears and whisper facts to herself to stay calm: the capital of France is Paris, water boils at 100 degrees, humans need love to survive.
She wasn't sure if that last one was true anymore.
By sixteen, she had learned to starve herself. First by skipping breakfast, then by purging lunches at school. She kept a toothbrush hidden in her backpack and chewed gum to mask the acid. No one noticed. She lost weight — slowly at first, then rapidly. Her clothes hung looser. Her cheekbones sharpened. And for the first time in her life, people began to look at her differently.
Some whispered admiration. Others envy. But the strangest part was that none of them saw her pain -they only saw the change.
She started to feel beautiful. Or at least, she started to think she could pretend.
But the hunger never left. It wasn’t just in her stomach - it was in her chest, in her throat, in her eyes. A hunger to be chosen, to be safe, to be loved without conditions. And no amount of weight loss, no perfect grades, no kindness could feed that.
High school ended with a cruel irony: she was top of her class. Valedictorian. Best student. People clapped for her at graduation. Teachers shook her hand. Her name was announced proudly over the microphone. But not a single person hugged her goodbye. Not a single friend said they'd miss her.
That night, she sat alone on the balcony, diploma in her lap, stomach empty, eyes wide open.
She had done everything right.
And still - the world gave her nothing.
Somewhere deep inside, a small crack began to form.
The hunger had eaten through everything.
And Hope...
was starting to disappear.