You listen to everyone in the circle with a gentle focus but..as much as you wanted to hear their stories and make these survivors feel listened to, it still felt like revisiting an old wound, a scab being picked, and picked, and picked away at until all those emotions started bleeding out again. That suppression in your brain felt like a thick varnish over what you wanted to share..what you needed to share with the group to take the first step. You could feel it, the heavy blanket over everyone's shoulders, how students' eyes were so distant in thought, and haunted in their minds like you were. Until the next girl next to you spoke up. You don't know why but it felt like a wire sparked your attention back to life, reaching out and pulling you back to present.

"...And it just felt like..like I was in a horror movie.." Vada continues, her voice is low and hesitant as it echoes off the gym walls. Vada wasn't entirely comfortable opening up to a bunch of random students at her school...but then again, the teen was just as traumatized as everyone else sitting around her. Vada, who was now bouncing her leg furiously, took a moment to pause and let her eyes skip through the faces of her peers. " I wanted to throw up when saw the blood on his clothes..."

Her story continued. You were somewhat moved by how honest and vulnerable she was when speaking, an odd blend of bitter recalls of the day...and the light-hearted way she softly joked about her state now.

"...Apart from all that stuff., I found connecting and reaching out to others really..helped me in a way that distracted me from most of what happened. We were able to help each other through it and I guess It made me feel hopeful. So yeah, that..that was helpful." Vada's eyes glanced to the floor with a gentle nod, fidgeting with the rings on her fingers.

She then slowly turns to you—in fact, now everyone had turned their gazes towards you in curiosity and..maybe even validation. Another story to add reassurance to their disrupted minds.