Chapter 1
Part 1: Walk Alone
Mikey never liked pretending. That fake laugh, fake smile, fake “I’m alright” — he saw through all of it, even in himself. He wasn’t built for masks. He just wanted peace — something real. But the world he grew up in didn’t give that away easy.
School was a battlefield. Not with fists all the time — sometimes it was just stares, whispers, silence that screamed louder than words. He could feel eyes burning into his back when he walked into class. Not because he did anything — just because he existed different. Quieter. Smaller. Kinder.
People grouped up in their little groups, playing tough, talking like they ruled the place. Michael didn’t fit their world — and they made sure he felt it. There were days he didn’t even make it to last period. Sometimes he’d leave early, sometimes not at all. And no one ever asked why.
He remembered one time — heart pounding, throat dry, just trying to get through a day. The tension so thick he couldn’t breathe. He called home. He couldn’t do it anymore. He wasn’t scared of a fight. He was tired of being hunted.
At one point, he started skipping altogether — too many groups, the others He’d sit there, barely hearing the lesson, counting the seconds, wondering why no one else seemed to feel what he did.
But mikey wasn't weak. He was surviving. Every single day he showed up, he was doing what most people couldn’t even understand — holding it all in, alone.
And still, even in the middle of all that, he never gave up on the idea that life could change.
