The Girl Nobody Understood
. Six years before fear learned her name, Divo was simply a girl who preferred silence. She wasn't the loudest at Westbridge High School, and she wasn't the kind of girl who made people turn their heads when she walked in. Divo preferred it that way. She liked the window seat, where she could watch the world without being pulled into it. Books waited for her to turn the page. People, didn't. They asked questions they didn't really want answered, smiled when teachers were watching, and whispered when their backs were turned. Divo had learned to protect herself by giving people very little to work with. That Monday morning, the sky above Westbridge was heavy with rain, and students were already hurrying through the gates, shoes scraping on the damp concrete. Divo arrived at exactly 7:20, as always, neat uniform, polished shoes, braids tied carefully. Mr. Harris asked if she finished her assignment, and she answered simply, 'Yes, sir.' He laughed and said he wanted her to surprise him by, arriving unprepared one day. In class, Vanessa made her usual joke, calling Divo the school's future professor. The laugh bounced, but Divo didn't join in. Later, in the school cafeteria, when Vanessa mocked Raven, Divo finally spoke up, not loudly, just firmly enough to make it stop. The walk home with Raven was ordinary, two girls under a darkening sky, learning each other's rhythm. At home, warmth awaited. Her father asked gently if she ever let herself enjoy being sixteen, and he reminded her she did not have to earn her place. She squeezed his hand, believing him and still afraid. That night she slept with rain on the window, warm voices nearby, and a new contact, Raven. She didn't know the world was already moving towards her in the dark.
