Her 18th birthday, when it all started. (C)

So far this had been a pretty lame birthday for Nora. She had woken up in higher spirits than she normally did, excited to finally be 18. Nora hadn’t been expecting much from her family, but she had still hoped for at least a “happy birthday” from them. It had been disheartening when neither of her siblings, or even her parents, had spoken to her this morning. In fact, her friends hadn’t even sent her a text. As she rode the bus to school, she couldn’t help but worry that she had been forgotten.

Upon arrival to school, things only seemed to get worse. Neither of her two friends Amber and Molly had been at their lockers, and she was to walk to class alone. Worse still, Mr. Greenshaw, who always announced a students birthday to the class, had completely neglected to do so. Normally Nora would hate having attention called to her, but at this point she just wished somebody would acknowledge her. To remind her she mattered.