Unmasked
322 Words
For a moment, the world stopped.
The noise of the fair faded into a dull hum as Ava stood frozen, her phone trembling in her hand.
Eli’s eyes flicked from her face to the glowing screen again — then back to her.
“Ava… it’s you,” he whispered.
“You’re FacelessGirl.”
She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
“Eli, I—”
He stepped closer, voice shaking with something between shock and wonder.
“All this time… it was you. The girl beside me. The girl I’ve been talking to every night.”
Her throat tightened. “I didn’t mean to lie. I just… I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
He frowned, confusion mixing with hurt. “Like what?”
She looked down. “Broken.”
They stood in silence, only the sound of the carousel drifting in the background.
Ava’s hoodie hung loose, her scars faint under the soft lights — lines of survival she’d spent a year hiding.
Eli finally spoke. “You think that changes who you are?”
Tears burned her eyes. “It always changes how people see me.”
“Then they’re looking wrong.”
Her breath hitched.
Eli took a step closer. “You’re the same girl who made me laugh when I was falling apart. The same one who listens, who writes like her heart’s too big for her chest. You’re her, Ava. You’ve always been her.”
He reached out — not to pull down her hood, but to hold her hand.
And somehow, that was worse.
Softer. Realer.
Later that night, Ava sat by her window, replaying every word, every look.
The fear was still there — but so was something else.
Hope.
She opened her laptop.
FacelessGirl: So… you know now.
Starboy_17: I do.
FacelessGirl: Still here?
Starboy_17: Always.
She smiled, the first real smile in months.
For the first time, Ava didn’t feel faceless anymore.
- Writer
