She silently trudged through the cafeteria, her head held down, her book held close to her chest. She was searching for an empty table, somewhere where she didn't have to talk to anyone. She walked faster when she walked past the popular kids table.

            "Have you met Pari? She's so weird. I heard she had no friends except for her books..." She froze at the mention of her name, ducking behind another table to listen to what they were saying.

       "Lol, yeah. I think she's in my ELA class. Why is she such a loser?"

           "I don't know, maybe it's because of her sister. Maybe her sister's influence rubbed off on her.."

    "Her sister? I thought it was because of her brother. Haven't you seen how quiet he is? I haven't heard him say a word all year. Even the teachers can't get him to talk. Just like her."

           "No, but her sister got raped. By her dad’s best friend even. I heard it was her fault, that she had wanted it. Maybe that's why Pari's such a sl--"

            Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back and continued on her way. She didn't want to hear anymore. None of their accusations were correct. Her siblings had nothing to do with it. At all.

          She was in sixth grade in McDowell County, in a school with people who knew everything about everyone. She hadn't told anyone what had happened to her sister. And her brother didn't talk to her either, so how could he have influenced her depression?

     They didn't know she was listening while they spread these rumors. They didn't know that she cried every night because of what she heard. They didn't know that she was being treated unfairly at home. They didn't know she cut herself. They didn't know she had 2 failed suicide attempts already. They didn't know that these rumors were why she had no friends. They simply didn't know.

              She spent her all of free time reading, and ignoring everyone else. She didn't talk unless called on. She held her head down as she walked through the halls. She made relatively good grades.  Most teachers would see her as a model student. They didn't know.

       Sometimes she didn't turn in her homework on purpose. She got lunch detention everyday to work on it, so she didn't have to worry about who to sit with at lunch.  She pretended that she didn't mind, that she was content to be alone.  Like she hadn’t been silently glancing at the groups of friends laughing around her, and wishing she could be like them..

 It had only been 2 months.

      It  got much worse for Pari as time went on. For starters she was being sexually assaulted by a boy in her class, who kept touching her and didn't listen when she asked him to stop.

  Because of this, she was called some, er, rather inappropriate names behind her back..

 One day, she decided she'd had enough, and punched him as hard in the face as she could.

 Because of this, rumors that she was a bully spread throughout the school.

They didn’t know.

And then, as if things weren't bad enough already, her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

Leaving her to raise her 2 younger brothers.

It felt like the world was crumbling around her, and depression’s snake-like grip on her only grew stronger.

She stopped taking her medication.

Another month slowly went past.

 Someone  had found out Pari was cutting herself and had attempted suicide. The school councelor had asked her about the suicide methods she'd considered

The counselor listened attentively as she listed 28 things she'd thought of.

"Pari. You can't allow this to go any farther.  I have an idea I'd like you to try for me. Is there anything you like to do for fun?"

There was a short pause before she replied.

"I like to read..."

The guidance counselor gave a desperate smile. "Have you ever tried writing a story before?"

She shook her head. She'd never actually thought about writing anything before, at least not seriously.

"I'd like you to try writing about what's going on. You don't have to share it with anyone. It doesn't have to even be good. Just write out your feelings, but pretend it's happening to someone else. Someone that isn't you. Try to make their story as happy as possible, and have them see the positive side of the situation."

Pari wasn't quite sure about the project, or where to even start,  but she hesitantly agreed.

By the end of the year, she had become a different person.

She'd kept the project like she'd promised the counselor and found that she was actually really passionate about writing. She'd started writing her own stories too, each with a happy ending. Writing helped her through the times where people couldn't.

She wrote stories about heroes who saved people when they couldn’t save themselves, about alternate worlds and the creatures who lived there, and about fantastical creatures that could only exist in her imagination.

Writing made her happier, it let her escape the world she was trapped in and go somewhere else.

She'd started talking to people, and even if it was hard at first, she'd made a few friends.

 She still loved reading, and ended up joining the school's battle of the books team, which really helped to cheer her up.  They even won first place that year.

And on the last school award ceremony, she'd won the "Most Likely to Become a Famous Author Award."

Better yet, her mom recovered from cancer.

It was as if the stars had finally aligned in her favor.

But the most important change of all was that she was happy.

She wasn't fully free from the stranglehold depression had on her, but she was doing much better.  

And in a few years, she'd be completely free from those chains.

Now, she's a lot better off. Sure, she still feels depressed sometimes, and is still very jumpy when people touch her, but she's mostly happy. A feeling that she didn't feel before. And it was because of writing. Writing was her escape from reality in the beginning, but now was the way to change her reality.  

Right now, somewhere in the world, she's sitting behind a computer, typing letters that form words.  Words that form a story, a story with a happy ending. Right now, she's doing her favorite thing in the world. And now, she's finally happy.