Chapter 19:
died living.
The sun rose.
Not gray. Not cold.
But warm.
He opened his eyes to light, not ceiling tiles.
The window was open.
The wind smelled like spring.
His room was filled with small things.
Books.
Notes.
Photos taped to the wall.
His walls.
He was someone again.
He got dressed.
No holes in his uniform.
No dirt on his sleeves.
Just fabric, clean and soft and simple.
Downstairs, someone said, “Morning.”
And it was real.
A voice.
Smiling.
Calling his name.
His name.
He answered.
The word came out whole.
Not as a whisper, not as a gasp.
Just a voice.
His own.
At school, no one stared.
No one pointed.
No one whispered behind their hands.
He walked through the gates, and the world didn’t flinch.
A girl waved at him.
He waved back.
Another voice behind him said,
“You coming to lunch with us today?”
He turned.
There were friends.
Real ones.
And they were waiting for him.
He laughed.
Not because he was pretending.
But because something inside him lifted.
Like a weight he didn’t know had always been there
had finally let go.
He ate.
The food tasted like something.
He talked.
His words stayed where he put them.
No one twisted them.
No one threw them back.
The teacher asked him a question.
He answered.
The class listened.
The teacher nodded.
He felt warm.
He walked home in the afternoon light.
She was beside him.
Not in front, not behind.
Beside.
They talked about movies.
About summer.
About stupid things.
He told her he liked her.
She didn’t look away.
She smiled.
And said,
“I know.”
At the door, she didn’t leave.
She stayed.
She didn’t disappear.
And when she leaned in to whisper something,
it wasn’t an apology.
It wasn’t goodbye.
It was just his name.
Spoken gently.
Like it mattered.
He went to bed.
His phone buzzed.
Goodnight.
From her.
From them.
From all of them.
He closed his eyes.
And nothing hurt.
Nothing haunted.
Nothing broke.
He smiled.
And the day ended.
Softly.
Peacefully.
The way it never could have.
Because it never happened.
It wasn’t real.
It was only Chapter 19.
Only the last kindness he imagined for himself
before the end.
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