Becoming Ava
283 Words
The following week felt strange.
Whispers still followed Ava through the halls — but now, they didn’t sting the same way.
Maybe because, for the first time, she wasn’t walking alone.
Eli walked beside her.
He didn’t make a big deal of it; he just showed up — waiting by her locker, saving her a seat in class, sharing quiet smiles that said everything words couldn’t.
Some people stared. Others whispered.
A few even sneered.
But Ava kept her head up.
And that was new.
At lunch, they sat beneath the oak tree again — their spot.
Eli handed her a sketchbook.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Open it.”
Inside were pencil sketches — some messy, some careful — of eyes, hands, laughter, and sunlight through trees. On the last page was her.
Not the hooded, hidden Ava.
The real one.
Her eyes soft, her scars faint but proud.
Ava’s breath caught. “You drew this?”
He nodded, cheeks pink. “I wanted you to see what I see.”
Tears blurred her vision. “Eli… it’s beautiful.”
“So are you,” he said simply.
That night, Ava opened CloverChat one last time.
FacelessGirl: I think I’m done hiding.
Starboy_17: You sure?
FacelessGirl: Yeah. I want to be Ava again.
Starboy_17: Then go be her. I’ll be here when you do.
She closed the chat, smiling through her tears.
For months, she’d been a name without a face.
Now, she was becoming herself again — not perfect, not flawless, but real.
And when she looked in the mirror before bed, she didn’t flinch.
She just whispered, “Hi, Ava.”
The girl in the reflection smiled back.
- Writer
