The "force" doesn't get to be sad. Not in public. The "force" gets to be angry, funny, or "unbothered." So Halley chose "unbothered." She was in the raw, hollowed-out aftermath of Kai, but she performed "fine" with terrifying skill. She screened Mira's calls, letting them go to voicemail, only to text back hours later: Just… Continue reading Halley: The Mirror
Author's Note Halley started as a mirror of my best friend, but she evolved into her own person. I think in some ways all three of these women I've written about are pieces of me. Mira represents my consciousness. My felt experience. The parts of me that I am aware of and actively healing. Mira's Story is the part of my identity that I identify with the most. Halley, she is my armor. She is outgoing with a bad picker that she uses to prevent getting hurt. Her 'force' and the 'performance' is the persona she deploys to keep the vulnerable, conscious self safe. And Paige. Paige is my shadow. She is the over analytical part that always needs a 'why' for everything. She's a perfectionist who tries to manage and control feelings by analyzing them. It's only been recently that I've become more aware of this shadow aspect of myself. So, while Halley, here, started as my best friend... she evolved into another part of me. A note on this chapter, "The Run": This is what Halley's armor looks like in action. It's the 'force' and 'performance' at its loudest, most desperate. It's her 'bad picker' pattern not as a flaw, but as a function. After being 'seen' by someone 'steady' (Theo), her entire system registers threat. The 'Halley' armor deploys to protect the vulnerable 'Mira' consciousness. 'The Run' is a pre-emptive strike—a flight away from the terrifying vulnerability of a 'foundation' and a dive into the familiar, 'shiny' chaos of a 'disco ball.' It’s a hollow, neon-lit performance to prove she's still 'free.' This is the part of the story where the armor 'works'… and in doing so, fails her completely.
Halley knew the after. The after-party. The after-image. The aftermath. She was the one who brought the snacks. The one who called you out. The one who held your hand in the trenches and never, ever left. Her life was a monument to the 'after,' to surviving. Her apartment was the physical proof: thrifted art,… Continue reading Halley: The Echo
Paige wanted to disappear.To lose herself in her work. She knew work. She understood it. Numbers, deadlines, performance. Those were measurable. Predictable. These new feelings, warring within her —guilt, relief, disappointment —were not ones she knew how to hold. The world around her felt muted, as though she were floating just above her own life.… Continue reading Paige: The Truth
It had been three months since Ellie saw the texts. Three months since the world had fractured, silently, from the inside. For Paige, it was three months of performing normalcy. She compartmentalized the secret, pushing it down, focusing on work, on logistics, on being the "good" wife and mother. She told herself it was over.… Continue reading Paige: The Attempt
It was easy for Paige to go from that first rush to finding reasons to stay at the office later and later. At first, she told herself it was ambition.The impulse to perform. To excel. To glow. Not in the ways most women did. As a beautiful woman, she’d grown up being noticed for her… Continue reading Paige: The Temptation
This is Mira’s story — part fiction, part reflection, wholly honest.(Each chapter will end with a note from her writing, signed as your trusted friend.) 🎧 Listen while you read: “Real Love Body by Father John MitsyFor moments when love feels like home—not perfect, but present, steady, and quietly revolutionary. https://open.spotify.com/track/0Z57YWES04xGh3AImDz6Qr?si=5054478d4c284e3e Mira's Story: The Reckoning of UsWhat… Continue reading Chapter Thirty: The Reckoning of Us
This is Mira’s story — part fiction, part reflection, wholly honest.(Each chapter will end with a note from her writing, signed as your trusted friend.) 🎧 Listen while you read: "Cherry Wine" by Hozier https://open.spotify.com/track/1C042FLYy7rP3MfnkOcnha?si=5121cee6aa744ce5 Mira's Story: ThresholdsWhen clarity tastes like skin and starlight Mira’s body buzzed with the warmth of wine and laughter, but her thoughts… Continue reading Chapter Twenty-One: Thresholds
This is Mira’s story—part fiction, part reflection, wholly honest.(Each chapter will end with a note from her writing, signed as your trusted friend.) Mira's Story: Bonus ChapterWhen steady love feels unfamiliar, but your body wants to learn its language anyway Halley was already two sips into her glass of wine when Mira slid into the… Continue reading Bonus Chapter: Reflections with a Friend
This is Mira’s story—part fiction, part reflection, wholly honest.(Each chapter will end with a note from her writing, signed as your trusted friend.) 🎧 Listen while you read: “Next to Me” by Sleeping at LastFor the moment you realize love doesn’t have to rescue you—it can simply stay. https://open.spotify.com/track/4FoUX81Qlk0AAM5Vmp06Dz?si=2325a2e7b7c145b5 Mira's Story: The Echo of Ordinary ThingsWhen connection… Continue reading Chapter Seventeen: The Echo of Ordinary Things
