only affect me.”
Paul followed my gaze.Girls’ empowerment programs
Lily’s eyes were swollen from crying.
“You left a sixteen-year-old girl trapped inside an adult secret.”
“I never asked her to keep anything from you.”
Lily spoke before I could.
“You didn’t have to.”
Paul went completely still.
She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands.Childcare services
“Dad told me not to interfere. You knew who I was. Mrs. Harris didn’t.”
She looked at Paul.
“Every day, I had to decide what I was allowed to say.”
Her voice shook harder.
“I used to love coming to her class.”
She wiped her cheek.
“Then I started being scared I’d accidentally say something wrong.”Back to school
That broke my heart.
This was why her grades had collapsed.
Not laziness.
Not teenage rebellion.
She had been sitting in my classroom every morning carrying a secret that belonged to four adults.
