THE WALL BETWEEN US

DRAWN, HEARD, AND UNDERSTOOD

The next day, Ella stopped by the bookstore to pick up a journal. She didn’t expect to see Lily—Roger’s younger sister—behind the counter.

Lily looked up, startled. “Ella?”

Ella froze. “Hey.”

They stood in awkward silence before Lily spoke again. “He’s… doing okay. Quiet. But okay.”

Ella nodded. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“I know,” Lily said. “He knows too. He just didn’t expect you to choose someone else.”

Ella swallowed. “I didn’t choose Stanley over Roger. I chose myself.”

Lily smiled faintly. “That’s what hurts the most, I think. That you outgrew him.”

Ella left with her journal and a heart full of ache. But also peace.

That evening, Stanley invited Ella over. They sat on his bedroom floor, surrounded by pencils and paper.

“I’ve been drawing you,” he said, flipping through his sketchbook.

Each page was a moment—Ella laughing, Ella dancing, Ella crying in the rain.

“I didn’t know how to say it,” he admitted. “So I drew it.”

Ella touched the page gently. “You saw me even when I didn’t.”

Stanley looked at her. “I loved you before I knew I did.”

She leaned in, kissed him softly. “I love you now. Because I know.”

Later that night, she recorded a voice memo. Not for Stanley. Not for Roger. For herself.

> “Hey, El. Just wanted to say… I’m proud of you. You didn’t settle. You didn’t stay small. You let go of something safe to find something true. That’s brave. That’s beautiful. Keep going.”

She saved it. Played it back. And smiled.