Marley sat alone in the auditorium, hugging her guitar. Everyone else had gone home after glee club rehearsal, but she stayed behind — like she often did. She liked the quiet, the stillness. It gave her room to feel the things she couldn’t say out loud.

Today, it was harder than usual. For weeks now, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her — the new girl in glee club. The one with the quiet voice and eyes that made Marley forget how to breathe. This was different. This felt real.

Her fingers hovered over the strings. Her heart was racing, as if she were standing on stage again with all eyes on her. She took a breath — and started to sing.

“I found a love, for me…”

Her voice trembled at first, but she kept going. Word by word. Line by line. The melody held her together. Singing was the one place she wasn’t afraid to be honest.

Halfway through the second verse, the door creaked open. Marley flinched — but didn’t stop. She couldn’t. Not now.

The girl stood at the entrance, watching her with a soft, slightly shy smile. Marley sang only to her now. Only for her.

“We are still kids, but we’re so in love…”

When the song ended, silence filled the room. They looked at each other. Neither said a word. And in that silence, in that shared gaze, there was more truth than Marley had ever managed to speak.