Her Secret Battles

Novana had learned how to hide pain the way some people learned to breathe, quietly, constantly, without thinking. For months, her body had been turning against her in secret. Episodes in the bathtub. Shaking fits behind her locked bedroom door. Moments when her voice simply vanished, leaving her mouth open but empty. Heat that crawled across her skin. Buzzing in her ears. Whispers in the walls that weren’t really there. But no one knew. Her mother thought she was “just stressed.” Her twin sister, Noriah, assumed she was “overthinking again.” Her father wasn’t around enough to assume anything. So Novana learned to smile. To hide. To bury every strange symptom under schoolwork, laughter, and the careful act of being the normal twin. And so far, she had succeeded. Until today. —— It started with a flutter behind her eyes. Not pain—just a warning. A soft tremble in her hands. A pulling sensation in her throat, like something inside her wanted to shut down. She was at her locker when it hit. Her left ear filled with static first. Like a blown-out speaker crackling. She froze. No… not here. Not at school. Please… not now. She swallowed hard, pretending to adjust her books, pretending to be fine. She forced a smile at a girl who walked past. She couldn’t let anyone see anything. Nobody at school knew her body misbehaved. Nobody knew she sometimes lay awake listening to noises no one else heard. Nobody knew the fear she carried the way other girls carried lip gloss. She would not break down in public. But then the hallway lights went too bright. Her heart thudded out of rhythm. Her legs felt far away, like they didn’t belong to her. And then, A voice. Soft. Close. Right behind her ear. “Novana…” She whipped around. No one was there. Her heart stumbled. The static grew louder, buzzing through her skull. Her breath caught in her chest, sharp and thin. She backed up against the lockers, clutching the metal for support. Not here. Not here. Not here… Her throat tightened, too tight. Her vision swam. Her books slipped from her hands and scattered on the floor. “Novana?” This time the voice was clearer. Calling her name gently, almost lovingly. She blinked hard, trying to focus, trying to stay upright. Then the world tilted. The hallway stretched, blurred, folded in on itself. The static roared. Her knees buckled. She felt her body drop, slow and heavy. The last thing she heard before everything went black was her name… “NOVANA!” A voice tearing through the noise, scared and real, not in her head. Then nothing. ⸻ She woke to blinding white light. Her lungs dragged in breath like she hadn’t used them in hours. She blinked up at the ceiling, confused, head throbbing. The room smelled sharp, antiseptic, clean, too clean. The school infirmary. What…? How…? When she tried to sit up, a wave of dizziness shoved her back down. And that’s when she saw them. Faces. Dozens of them. Students crowded at the narrow window in the door, eyes wide, whispering, pointing. Their silhouettes blurred behind the glass, but she felt every stare like a weight on her chest. Her heart rattled against her ribs. Why is everyone looking at me? The murmur of voices pushed into her skull, too loud, too sharp. It felt like the whole school was inside her head. She pressed her hands to her ears. “Why are the noises so much?” she whispered. A hand touched her arm gently. The school nurse. “Sweetheart… what noises?” she asked softly. Her face was calm, confused. “No one is here except you and me.” But Novana shook her head. “I’m, I’m hearing the voices again.” It slipped out before she could stop it. Panic shot through her. Why did she say that out loud? Why would she say something so dangerous? She couldn’t let anyone think she was losing her mind. She couldn’t let the school label her as that girl. She needed to pull herself together. Right now. Right here. The nurse opened her mouth to ask something, but before she could, the infirmary door flew open. A girl rushed in, hair messy, eyes terrified, chest heaving. Noriah. Her twin. “Nova! Oh my God, why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?” Tears filled her eyes as she rushed to the bed. Novana swallowed shakily, forcing her breathing to steady, forcing her expression into something calm… something sane. I can’t look like I’m deranged, she thought, heart pounding. I can’t let my own sister see what’s really happening to me. She had hidden it for months. She could hide it one more time.