The auditorium buzzed with chatter. Students filled the rows, whispering, laughing, checking their phones. It was the annual school showcase — an event where anyone could perform or present something personal. Songs. Poems. Stories.
Michelle sat backstage, her palms clammy around a folded sheet of paper.
"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered to Lila.
"You wrote it for a reason," Lila said gently. "You've lived through all this. Say it out loud. Let them hear your voice."
Michelle bit her lip. Steve, seated in the front row, caught her eye and gave her the smallest, proudest nod.
She stood.
And walked toward the light.
As she stepped onto the stage, silence fell. Whispers stilled. A few people from Avery's circle smirked, nudging each other.
Michelle unfolded the paper with trembling hands.
Then she began to speak.
"I didn't come here to make friends.I came here to become myself.But somewhere along the way, I realized...Becoming yourself doesn't happen in silence."
Her voice grew stronger.
"I was followed.Lied about.Locked in.Watched.Judged for loving someone who simply saw me for me.I was told to be quiet.So here I am — loud."
A hush swept through the room. Even the smug expressions faded.
"You don't have to like me.But you will not rewrite my story.I own every scar, every stumble.And still, I stand."
Applause didn't come at first. It came like thunder.
Michelle blinked through tears as Steve stood, clapping the loudest.
Then, a sound.
A sharp pop.
And a projection behind her flickered on.
A photo.
Not the one from the cabin.
A new one.
Michelle, crying in the bathroom weeks ago. Her hair a mess. Her makeup smudged. Clearly taken from above — through the stall crack.
Gasps filled the auditorium.
Steve surged to his feet.
"WHO did that?!"
The dean ran up to the stage. Lila was already on her phone, screen recording the incident. Michelle stood frozen.
But this time, she didn't run.
She turned back to the crowd, her voice shaking but determined.
"This is what they do when they're afraid. They spy. They humiliate. They hide behind screens. I'm done hiding."
Later that evening, the dean called an emergency meeting. The IT department tracked the projector feed. This time, it wasn't Avery.
It was someone new.
Claire.Another girl from Avery's circle — the quiet one, the shadow in the background. Turns out, she was the one behind the blocked message.
"She said you 'made Avery weak,'" the dean said. "She wanted to finish what Avery couldn't."
Claire was expelled.
Avery was placed under disciplinary probation.
But for Michelle, something far more powerful had happened…
She had stood in front of them all, broken and brave.
And they listened.