I'm walking alone
in this crowded place.
Headphones in my ears,
drowning out the noise.

As I walk,
I think.

"They talk about
how bullying is terrible.
How it should be stopped."

"They're the ones
who stop and watch
as I'm shoved against a locker."

"They don't know me.
Don't know the thoughts
running around my head."

"They don't know that
at night I open my veins.
I bleed the pain away."

"They don't know that
I think about ending it.
Ending my pain. My misery."

"They don't know that
I'm just looking for one person
to smile at me and mean it.
One person to be different.
Different from the others."

"They don't know that
I haven't found that person.
That I don't think they exist."

"They don't know that
when I go home today,
I plan on ending my life."

"They don't know that
I just need one person
to hug me and tell me it's ok."

I continue walking
down the hall.
When someone calls my name.

I turn to see who it is.

It's someone I don't know.

She walks up to me and
wraps her arms around me.
She says:
"You looked like you needed a hug."

She pulls away with a smile on her face
and looks at me
straight in the eyes.
"My name is...."

In that one moment,
everything changed.