My name is Liora.
And in this school, I'm a ghost.
No one looks at me. No one talks to me.
But sometimes… they hurt me. Just enough to remind me that I exist.
Every morning, I wake up with a lump in my throat. Not from fear… but from exhaustion.
I'm tired of fighting air, of pushing through silence, of battling myself.
I know I'm not pretty. I've never been. That's what people have always told me. My skin is too dull. My smile too hesitant. My body too plain. Nothing about me shines—except maybe my thoughts. But no one hears those.
"What's the point in speaking anyway? Who would listen? Who would even care?"
I barely talk. And when I do, my voice shakes.
So they laugh.
Especially Clara and her friends. They think I'm "perfect for Halloween," that I "should hide under a sheet," or that "even mirrors should avoid me." Sometimes they pretend I don't exist. Sometimes, they really believe it.
I blend into the background, into the walls, into the hallways.
I'm Liora. The invisible one.
But inside, in my hidden world, I'm not silent at all.
I dream. A lot.
I dream that one day, someone will see me.
That one day, someone will hear me.
And most of all… I dream about Kaelan.
Kaelan Kim. The brightest guy in school. Handsome, popular, cold as ice.
He doesn't know me. Or maybe he does, just as "the weird girl who stares too much." But I've admired him from afar for so long. Not just because he's attractive, but because he seems untouchable. Unbreakable. Everything I'm not.
"Why do I look at him so much? Because he reminds me of what I'll never be. Strong. Unshakable. Immune to stares and cruel words."
I did something stupid. I know it.
I spent nights writing a letter. A real one. Old-fashioned. Telling him what I felt—without expecting anything in return. Just to free myself.
"What if… he actually replied? No. He won't. He doesn't even see me."
That morning, heart pounding, hands shaking, I slipped the letter into his locker. He didn't take it.
So after class, I walked up to him. Yes, me.
The invisible girl. The weird one. The one no one remembers the name of.
He was standing alone, leaned against a wall, bag slung over one shoulder.
The sun hit his brown hair just right, and for a second, I thought I was dreaming.
I handed him the letter.
He looked at me. A second. Maybe two.
His eyes were empty. Not cruel. Not curious.
Just… blank.
He took the letter between two fingers, as if it disgusted him.
Then let it fall to the ground.
And walked away.
"That's it? Not even a word? Not a look? Not a nervous smile or a frown? Just... nothing?"
I stood there, frozen, with the sound of his footsteps growing fainter.
A buzzing in my ears. A hole in my chest.
I never expected him to love me.
But I hadn't imagined he'd reject me like that.
And that night, for the first time in a long while, I cried.
"Not because he ignored me. But because in that silence… he confirmed what I always feared: I'm not even worth a proper no. Not even an explanation. Just pure indifference."
I thought I had hit rock bottom.
But little did I know… my life was about to change in the most brutal way possible.