Chapter Nineteen – Rock Bottom By Wednesday, Yn stopped trying. She didn’t bother with makeup. She didn’t bother with her hair. She didn’t even bother pretending she cared about the whispers anymore — because pretending took energy she no longer had. When the cheer team walked past her in the hallway, she didn’t look up. She didn’t feel the sting of being left out. She just felt… nothing. At lunch, she sat in the corner of the cafeteria, scrolling aimlessly on her phone. Freya approached once, hesitating, but Yn shook her head before she could speak. Freya walked away. That night, she stared at her cheer uniform hanging in the closet. It looked like it belonged to someone else — someone who smiled, someone who fought for her place, someone who believed she mattered. She pulled it down, folded it neatly, and placed it in a box under her bed. The next morning, she didn’t go to practice. She didn’t even tell anyone she was quitting. She just… stopped showing up. Her mom noticed, of course. “Yn, what’s going on?” “I’m done,” she said flatly. Her mom’s voice softened, but it didn’t reach her. “You can’t just give up.” “I already have.” School became a blur — classes, hallways, faces she barely registered. Lila’s taunts didn’t hurt anymore, because nothing did. By Friday, Yn walked out of the building without saying goodbye to anyone. She didn’t care if people noticed. She didn’t care if Malachi noticed. She had given up completely. And in the quiet of her room that night, she realized the scariest part wasn’t losing her spark — it was not wanting it back.
