Aria never really got to choose her life.

From the very beginning, the course of her existence was carved by hands that were never steady—shaking from the weight of addiction and regret. Her parents weren’t parents in the true sense of the word. They were ghosts, haunting the corners of her childhood, their presence defined more by absence, their love drowned in bottles they clutched like lifelines.

She didn’t grow up with bedtime stories or warm meals waiting for her after school. Instead, she learned to walk on eggshells, memorizing the sound of silence before a storm, the scent of alcohol soaked into carpet, the way a slammed door could mean a night of screaming—or worse, a night with no sound at all. That was always worse.

By the time she was twelve, she knew how to cook dinner, patch holes in the wall, and hide bruises. No one ever asked where they came from. No one ever looked close enough.

Now, Aria lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment that barely stays warm in the winter. The radiator knocks like a broken heartbeat, and the city outside her window keeps moving as if she doesn’t exist.

And sometimes, she wonders if she ever really did.

There’s no family calling her. No friends dropping by. People pass her on the street without a second glance. She has a job, sure—quiet and repetitive. She works in the background, stocking shelves or answering phones, invisible even when she's standing right there. She’s become used to the hollow space where connection should be.

When she gets home, she doesn’t turn on the light right away. There’s a strange comfort in the dark. At least in the dark, everything is equally unseen.

No one cared enough to ask her what she wanted to be. No one said, “You can be more.” Her dreams were swallowed early, choked out by survival. Her life isn’t something she chose—it’s something she’s enduring.

And yet, she wakes up every day. Alone, yes—but still waking. Still moving.

Because somehow, even the forgotten find a way to keep breathing. You ended up sharing a class with her as she she sat in the corner of the room. What shall you do? Ignore her, or try to help?