HER
335 Words
By then, I wasn’t completely alone.
I had Nathaniel… and Joshua.
Most people called him Joshua, but to me, he was just Josh.
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With them, things were different.
I didn’t have to think too much about what I was saying.
Didn’t have to calculate every reaction or adjust myself to fit in.
I could just… be.
Or at least, something close to it.
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It wasn’t perfect.
But it was easier.
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They didn’t expect anything from me.
And maybe that’s why I didn’t feel the need to pretend as much around them.
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Outside of that…
I was still trying.
Still adjusting.
Still figuring out how to exist in a place that didn’t feel natural to me.
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And then—
there was her.
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At first, it was simple.
I noticed her.
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That wasn’t unusual.
People notice beauty all the time.
But for me, it usually stopped there.
I don’t get drawn in just because someone looks good.
At least… I didn’t think I did.
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She was different.
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There was something about her that didn’t match.
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From a distance, she looked quiet.
Almost too quiet.
The kind of person you’d assume keeps to herself.
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But when she was around people she was comfortable with—
she changed.
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She laughed louder.
Spoke freely.
Carried herself with a kind of confidence that didn’t feel forced.
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It wasn’t calculated.
It wasn’t something she put on for people to see.
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It felt real.
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And that’s what caught my attention.
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She didn’t seem like she was trying to be anything.
She just… was.
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Confident.
Bold.
Unfiltered in a way I didn’t understand.
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It was strange.
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Because without realizing it—
that was something I had been looking for.
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Someone who didn’t feel the need to adjust themselves to fit into everything.
Someone who wasn’t constantly thinking three steps ahead before speaking.
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Someone who didn’t pretend.
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At least…
that’s what I thought.
- Writer
