Chapter 2 - The Notebook Under the Mattress
Emily’s safest place was the school art room.
Her teacher, Ms. Patel, rarely demanded explanations. She simply kept an extra chair near the window and allowed Emily to stay during lunch.
One Tuesday, Ms. Patel noticed Emily struggling to hold a charcoal pencil.
“Did you hurt your wrist?”
Emily pulled down her sleeve.
“I fell.”
Ms. Patel studied her face but did not press. Instead, she gave Emily a small black notebook.
“For sketches,” she said. “Or anything you need to get out of your head.”
Emily began drawing doors.
Some were locked. Some stood open. Some had no handles.
Between the sketches, she wrote dates and short descriptions. She did not use dramatic words. She recorded facts: Brittany screaming outside her bedroom, her father taking away her phone, her mother asking her to wear sleeves before relatives arrived, a bruise noticed by the school nurse, and an apology Emily had been forced to write.
She hid the notebook beneath her mattress.
One evening, Laura entered while Emily was doing homework.
“Your father says you’ve been distant.”
“I’m tired.”
Laura sat on the bed.
“Brittany is going through a hard time. She feels like you look down on her.”
“I don’t.”
“Then try harder to show it.”
Emily almost reached for the notebook. She almost asked her mother why peace always required only one person to surrender.
But Laura’s eyes were already pleading for silence.
May you like
After she left, Emily wrote one sentence across a blank page.
No one wants the truth. They only want quiet.
