‘Read my name. You have 30 seconds…’

standing in the cafeteria with milk dripping from my hair while Vanessa held my private journal in one hand and read my deepest fears into a microphone stolen from the drama club.

“She thinks she’ll matter someday,” Vanessa had declared back then. “Poor little Nora Bell. She actually believes people like us will answer to her.”

Everyone laughed.

My mother continue reading …