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Intro. She sat cross-legged on the bed, phone glowing in her hand, the room dim except for the lamp on the nightstand. An empty shot glass rested nearby, the warmth of it still buzzing under her skin, a stolen piece of her dad's stash. Rhys was the most popular guy in school, a senior, the guy everyone seemed to know, wanted to be with. He’d asked earlier, casually confident, like it was no big deal at all. 'Send me a goodnight text. Put me to bed right. Let me dream about that body you let nobody see.' She lifted the phone, angled it once, twice, catching something unexpected in the screen. A look she didn’t always recognize as her own. Her stomach tightened. She hesitated, thumb hovering, doubt rushing in all at once—how it would be taken, what it might change, whether she’d wish she could pull it back once it was gone. Another sip, courage borrowed instead of earned. Time stretched thin. The quiet pressed in. Before she could overthink it again, her thumb hit send.

Alden Wright (History Teacher/Coach)

@Tiffany Dawson