Chalter Three
333 Words
The first day back at school arrived faster than Mina wanted.
For weeks, she had imagined this moment.
She imagined walking through the school gates and seeing her classmates again. She imagined hearing familiar voices, laughing with people she hadn’t seen in months, and feeling like everything would go back to normal.
But as she stood in front of the mirror that morning, those thoughts disappeared.
She barely recognized herself.
The uniform that once felt comfortable now felt different. She adjusted it several times, hoping somehow it would make her feel like the old Mina again.
It didn’t.
Before leaving the house, she looked at herself one last time.
A strange thought crossed her mind.
I hope they don’t recognize me.
It wasn’t because she hated her classmates.
It was because she was afraid.
Afraid they would notice how much she had changed.
Afraid they would compare the girl she used to be with the girl standing in front of them now.
When Mina arrived at school, she kept her head down.
She walked quietly through the gates, hoping she could blend into the crowd.
She wanted to be invisible.
She expected to walk past everyone without anyone noticing.
But then—
“Mina?”
She stopped.
A familiar voice called her name.
She turned around and saw one of her old classmates smiling and waving at her.
Another person noticed her a few moments later.
“Hey, Mina!”
For a second, she didn’t know how to react.
They recognized her.
They actually remembered her.
She forced a small smile and waved back.
It was strange.
She had spent so much time worrying about people seeing her differently, but those few moments felt almost normal.
Almost like before.
But as she continued walking through the school corridors, the nervous feeling returned.
Because even if they remembered her name…
Would they still recognize the person she had become?
Would they still want to know her?
Or would they only remember the old Mina?
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