No one saw it coming.

Not her professors who praised her talent.

Not her classmates who thought she was just stressed.

Not Vienna, who suspected something was wrong but never imagined this wrong.

Not Cole, who still waited every day for her to speak to him again.

Laura woke up one morning, stared blankly at the mirror, and realized she couldn’t do it anymore.

Her reflection looked unfamiliar—disheveled hair, hollow eyes, lips cracked from days of skipping meals. She touched her face like she was touching a stranger.

And for the first time, she whispered:

“I need to leave.”

The decision didn’t come from courage.

It came from exhaustion.

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