People who grow up in loving homes do not always understand the hesitation. When you are neglected for a long time, asking for help feels like setting off a fire alarm in a building where everyone already blames you for the smoke. I managed to last another seven minutes before my vision started to go grainy around the edges.
I slid my phone out from under the desk with a hand that would not stop shaking. I opened the family group chat and hovered my thumb over the keyboard. For a fleeting second, I considered texting my friend Toby instead.
Toby sat just two rows away in my English class and lived only a few minutes from the school. But Toby was also in the middle of a class, and he did not have his car that day because his brother had borrowed it. I took a deep breath and typed a message to my family.
I told them that I was not feeling well and that I had severe stomach pain. I asked if someone could please come and pick me up. I watched my message appear directly beneath a photo Chloe had posted of her new outfit with a caption about a fashion crisis.