Friendship Stories

I don't know if this is the right place to talk about something like this but I need to get it off my chest and I don't want to emotioanlly burden my other friends by talking about this - as I've already talked to them about this and I don't know what to do about it.

Since December I've noticed one of my group of friends getting into really bad habits; more specifically with alcohol and marajuana (even more specifically, weed pens/vapes). I'm fully aware that I'm not one to throw too many stones in a glass house (not sure if I'm using that correctly) as I've tackled the same sort of problems they're experiencing, but have reached a place where I am able to do it recreationally and have a healthy relationship with it.

Where I'm from, THC and HHC have been banned, so now smoke shops are selling weed pens with really strange chemicals - I think the one my friends buy are called HHZ or HHX?? And alcohol is, of course, very easily available in most shops. Because of this accessability, my friends are buying weed vapes tri-weekly and drinking on weekdays alone. They seem to have no problem with this.

It also seems to me now, that every time I hang out with this group of friends we always end up drinking and it is exhausting. My house is also used as our main 'drinking spot,' which is putting a strain on me and my father, whomst I live with and does not appreciate the company when he has work the next day. Last week really broke me. We have a groupchat and one of them asked if 2 of them could come over to my house after they had watched a movie in the cinema to drink at 11pm. Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn't even invited to the fucking cinema and now you want to come over to my house just to drink? Am I a fucking dive bar??? Fuck you!

I never really had a problem with the weed pens either until the new HHX/Z shit came about. I myself used to smoke weed pens when they were still HHC/THC, but stopped because I was noticing that I wasn't right mentally and figured I should stop for my wellbeing. I'm worried that this is going to hurt them in the long run, especially since one of them that smokes them is in a difficult major in college and I'm worried about their performance.

Also, this seems relevant enough to throw in here, their humour and perspective on things has 'devolved' for lack of a better word. The way they talk about certain things just seems so childish and I normally wouldn't mind but sometimes it really bugs me, I don't know. And I can never talk about things that I'm interested in, and I fear that I'd get laughed at if I suggested something like "Hey, let's go to an art gallery/exhibition" or "Let's go to a jazz bar" even though that's a completely normal thing to do once in a while that doesn't involve liver damage or whatever. I know this because whenever I try to plan something new for us to try, a recent example being us going to a variety of new upcoming artists in the city, the plans always seem to conventiently fall through. But it's ok! Because there always conventiently time to go to the same fucking bar we always go to instead that have cheap drinks that get you drunk quick because why bother with something new and exciting when you can just get shitfaced!?

I feel guilty for facilitating this, but I don't know what to do. I've always had a hard time saying no but despite that I try my best to set boundaries, telling them 'no' straight-up when they ask to come over just to drink. I fear that if I voice my opinion, it will come off as a sort of 'mightier-than-thou,' since I've made it known that I've cut back on my marajuana and alcohol use over the past year after a particularly nasty bout of substance abuse following a break-up. I've talked to other people about this, but they've never given me any advice to remedy the situation - and I feel bad if I go to them for the hundredth (hyperbole) time with the same issue. I don't know. It's nice to scream into the void here instead of bothering anyone, but maybe that's just me.

I met a guy 2 years ago online. he sent me a voice message first and I just sent a question mark. Then we started talking and talking he was a cute guy and made me laugh, I sent him some videos and he sent me some. He once even told me he would take me to the amusement park so we could have fun like kids if we were in the same city (We both were teens). as we talked he recommended me songs. He even sang some

(ignore if I have mistakes, English is not my first language). Things were sweet and cute. I had family issues back then like now so he was the only one making me smile and forget about bad things, so yeah I got attached to him. I was texting him in my fake account so I had another girl in my profile. after I trusted him I sent him a picture of myself and told him that I am actually this. he was even sweet then, he told me he can help me improve my style -We've talked about that too- but I got stressed and blocked him (I wish it stayed like that)

Later I couldn't forget him so I texted him in another account I created and we talked there too. I told him I was sorry for suddenly blocking him etc. he didn't see anything bad in that and accepted me but told me I shouldn't fake myself. (yeah fair enough). As we talked things got a bit out of hand. because I always sent him a photo of me I liked. one day it even came to being s3xualized. I don't remember how but we came to that topic. He wanted a photo of my chest (I'm so sorry if these are triggering you, please don't continue) I was reluctant at first but I fucking did it. Then I deleted it. and I thought he didn't have the photo anymore too. Later the days he told me we should do s3xting and I refused. and he said it wouldn't hurt. i obviously refused him again. Then he sent me the photo I sent him a couple of days ago. (Yes that one). Clearly threatening me to share it around without saying anything. So I just wrote a paragraph about how I trusted him and how I wanted to be near him but how he disappointed me. and I logged out of the account. after a couple of days I logged in and the chats were still there and he didn't even block me. Instead he had even video called me after the paragraph. I panicked and just deleted all the evidence and the account there. I am grateful that I didn't use my actual account because I think he could've threatened me to send it to my parents. But I still hate myself for that I should've known that he was a bad person and I should've kept him blocked from the first time. He is now mature and keeps living his life while I think and rot here again and again. he even makes some small contents and dubs. It just popped in my feed a couple of weeks ago and I don't know.

I did some research and I should've gone to the police. but I don't even have any evidence. and I just let it go like that. even after 2 years it still haunts me I've never told anyone about this I just wanted to vent here

You arrive when the world goes still, when the dark makes room for honesty, no matter how carefully I spent the day avoiding your name. I replay the moment I changed everything with a few trembling words. I rehearse my confession the way others recite prayers, not for forgiveness, but for punishment. Your expression—kind, careful, already closing, has become a permanent fixture in my mind, and I study it as though it might eventually explain what I did wrong beyond loving you too much, too openly, too soon. You did nothing except remain who you were. I was the one who mistook safety for promise, proximity for permission, friendship for a future that existed only in my heart. Now I lie awake stitching together memories, wishing I could rewind myself into the girl who loved you quietly. When loving you only hurt this much in my dreams.

I would like to start by saying I am a teenager, and I understand that that could bring some judgement to my story, but I feel that it is necessary for accurate comprehension and feedback. Also, disclaimer, I tend to ramble, but I will try to keep it as brief as possible, but there will be much backstory. Starting at the beginning, about a year ago me and this guy I liked and was kind of friends with started texting. We'll call him Alex. At first, he was just asking why my friend, we'll call her Eva, had been teasing him and I and if it meant anything. I dodged the question and we agreed to pretend it didn't happen, but later that day he texted again asking about schoolwork, so I jumped at the opportunity. I had liked him for several months, and had been considering doing this, so I suggested sending each other trivia questions to prepare for knowledge bowl. After that we just hit it off. When I tell you we texted 24/7, I mean it. Any time we weren't busy; it was constant. It really screams "screenager" but we were obsessed with taking to each other. And it wasn't your basic teenage texting, like "hey wyd" and stuff like that. We had playful conversations, deep conversations, just really started to get to know each other, going from one thing to the next and filling any empty space with trivia. I know him better than his parents do. It wasn't too long before he became one of my best friends, if not #1. And I told him this. However... we were not great at actually interacting in person. It was always pretty awkward, especially since we're both socially awkward people in general, so in person interactions didn't happen all that often. But the second we got home, things started rolling again. It may seem stupid and a dumb childish thing, and I agree, but honestly seeing each other just made both of our brains fry. But we really did try. About 3 months into this, we finally admitted that we liked each other but decided not to put a label on it because we were practically incapable of talking face to face. So we continued as we were, best friends and constant virtual companions that flirted and knew they liked each other. After another couple of months, mid summer, things started going downhill. I was dealing with family stuff and it was really hard on me so I resorted to pushing him away. I told him things weren't working out, and we didn't talk for 2 months. It was a hard time for both of us; neither had truly lost feelings and his mental health went way down. (He had had a history with mental issues that I was not entirely aware of at the time) Once school started up again, Eva became besties with Alex. (in her point of view, Alex says he never thought they were that close) I'm going to be honest, I may still hold this against her a little bit. She's one of my best friends, and she thought it was okay to start texting and always talking to and talking about him. It got to the point where Alex was practically all Eva's mom would talk about. But she claimed there was no interest there (she was being truthful, both ways, but the friendship still hurt) To be fair, he was the only person she knew in that class, but it got excessive. Eventually, though, Alex started asking Eva about me and I was definitely asking about him too, and one day she told me that Alex said he never actually stopped liking me and missed me. This broke me because I felt the same. So, Eva made the decision to force us into a group chat to talk. It went really well, we started talking like we used to again and worked everything out. Same stage as before though, "more than friends with potential for label". Alex and I got way better at interacting in person, and he, Eva, Eva's new boyfriend Remy, their friend Erik, and I all became kind of a friend group. To shorten it up, Remy was booted after not long. Alex and I finally decided we were ready and became official. To give you a time frame, it had been 9 months since we started talking. (oh and for the record, we had started saying "I love you" a month before we were official, which seems backwards, and I probably seem dumb and naive for saying this but we really do love each other) Anyways, not even a week after we started dating, he found out his parents were divorcing. It hit Alex really hard, and his mental health dropped, badly. As I said, even when he was really young he had issues with depression and suicidal thoughts, and everything pretty much skyrocketed. Here's where I stop the buildup and get to the conflict between Alex and Eva. Alex had had recent issues with her trying to take all my attention, but it was a pretty minor thing. Other than that, Eva had been very persistent ever since they became friends to get Alex to open up to her. He is a pretty closed off person and is slow to trust. She pushed and pushed and wouldn't let up. I understand the want to help and have people open up to you, but I also think it is important to consider boundaries and trust. Anyways, she eventually slowed down on the pushing. However, when the divorce first started being a thing, Erik and I told Eva that he really needed his friends' support, but she basically said she didn't have the energy to care or deal with it right now. I'm going to try to sum it up. Alex was really upset about this and decided if she didn't care he wouldn't care about being her friend, Eva felt that this was unfair and that she had tried so hard before and was always there for people and just needed a break. This is where it rooted, and more problems sprouted from this. Erik liked Eva but she didn't like him, but she was definitely doing things to lead him on then would just cut him off completely, and Alex used that as another reason to pull himself and Erik away from her. Among a few other little things. Eva still believed this was unfair and she didn't deserve it. And In full honesty, Eva really is a good person and a good friend. This went on for a little bit, Alex being cold, Erik being indecisive, Eva feeling betrayed, and me trying to keep everyone happy. Eva would ask Alex why he hates her now, and usually he would avoid the question, but eventually he gave in and started listing things he hated her for. Eva was really hurt and called me saying that he was a terrible person and yada yada yada. It was really hard for me to be on both sides of this, because I really did see both of their points. And especially hard since I was also trying to help Alex get through the divorce and not let the mental issues make him do something stupid, if you know what I mean. But I ultimately leaned towards Alex's side of the conflict. Eva and I are still just as close of friends, and I tried to be there for her while she was hurting and felt like everyone hated her, but she could tell and was upset that I was moreso taking Alex's side. As of right now, Alex and Eva hate each other, Alex tried his best to avoid coexisting with her and when he has to, I'll admit he makes some unnecessary comments, which I talk to him about. Eva hates Alex and won't admit it but I think she's judging me for staying with him. She gets passive aggressive when I spend time with him that could've been spent with her but she tries to pretend she's okay with it. And it's not like I always choose him over her and ignore her, that's not the case. As for Erik, he is still friends with both of them. I think both sides have valid points, and both sides have the support of people I trust. Sometimes I'm worried I should feel bad for staying with a guy that treats my very close friend like that, but I talk to him about it and ask him to be kinder, and considering the points leading up I really am not sure if he's in the wrong for that. Also, just as an explanation, I included all that backstory to explain I wasn't just going against one of my closest friends for "some guy", because to me he's so much more. I'm trying to balance two relationships with people that both mean the world to me but hate each other.

I don't have a personality, its like my whole self is built up on my friends and they hate me for it and tbh I hate myself for it more

My friend and I have known each other for a few years now and I have known her boyfriend before they started dating and that was when we hanged out with mutual friends. I noticed after they settled down together that she is very open sexually towards me and even makes her boyfriend give an opinion. Her boyfriend gets super uncomfortable and its obvious she wants him to say something so of course he says something to please her. its weird because whether or not he responds she tends to blow up the situation or completely takes things out of context. I don't know if I'm overreacting and I know I'm missing a lot of context.

So about a month ago my friend that I've know for about a year called me and wanted to hang out. I've been talking too this girl for a little over 3 months we've went out had sex all that.... well when my friend came over I had just gotten a shower and I was wearing my black plush pajama pants and my Grey plush robe super soft clothes just because I like being comfy after a shower and a long day. When he came over he immediately brought up the girl he said "so I heard you started talking too a girl" I replied back "yea things are going pretty good im starting to like her" and he said "well you do know i been talking to her too" and I immediately felt bad I could tell he was angry. So I said "sorry bro how can I fix this" and he looked at me and he looked at my robe and said "go take this off and put on your "soft" jacket" which I found kinda strange but I didnt question it i walked in my room and put on my grey fleece Columbia jacket. When I walked back in the living room I said "well alright now what" he stood up and his eyes were locked on my plush covered crotch (I had no underwear on) and then he said "spread your legs" I immediately was shocked and confused I said " for what?" He said "you asked how you could fix this" and I said " yea but why did I have to put on a jacket and spread my legs" "he said youll see" well I spread my legs just a little and when I did he came closer and drove his knee right into my balls. I imm fell to my knees and said "wtf with a slight moan" he stood me back up and did the same thing 3 times while I was on my knees the 3rd time he comes up behind me and gets grabs my balls from the back and starts squeezing i remember feeling the fuzzy pants tighten around my thighs he said something in my ear but I was in too much pain to understand him after squeezing my balls for 30 secs or more he finally let's go. Thats when I see him walk over to the corner and grab my wooden bat. He makes me stand up again and he said "spread your legs" I spread my shaking legs and he put the bat between my legs and grabs the front and back of the bat and yanks it up into my crotch I immediately went limp holding the bat too try and release some of the pressure. Thats when he says " next time you fuck one of my girls just know I always know and I always got a retaliation you can still fuck her but good luck getting hard with these sore fuzzy balls" and after he said that he yanked the bat up super hard just too get one more blow in and I immediately fall too my knees holding my balls while he walked out.

you open yourself up to people and feel doomed for failure.

you've played this tune before.

you've been here before.

but now it's through a screen, now you can't reach them.

its the first time ive allowed myself to make genuine, real online friends. and its great, but i forgot that i make friends with some of the most mentally unstable people on earth. so im dissociated, shaken, petrified because one of our friends just described their dad beating them, then after how they were cutting their own stomach open, playing with their organs, and waiting to bleed out.

and the five minutes they didnt respond felt like hours.

and then they were okay, and didnt do it only because they didnt want us telling their irl friend. then they got mad at me for telling their irl.

they played one of my alltime favorite songs, Army Dreamers by Kate Bush. I saw it on their Discord status, while they were bleeding out. Suddenly I don't like that song anymore.

just last night we also dealt with the owner of the server being sent to a psych ward, then being rejected entry.

i have midterms this week, im dealing with my own fucked up emotions and feelings, and all my friends want to be dead.

i don't easily want to hurt myself, when i do its from extremely bad stress. im gonna see if i can get high tonight on something, anything. im so done with the real world. its not just this, its everything. its politics, its school, its my gender, its anxiety, and its my friends. and still its so much more. everything feels inescapable.

i want to live. im too scared of death for anything drastic. but i wanna find a way where i dont have to think about life so much. a place inbetween.

I was watching nana edits, it's an amazing anime and I love it. Gonna get a tattoo. While I was watching it tho..my lamp blinked 3 or 4 times. I thought the power was gonna go out but nothing else in my room was doing that. Not the fan or anything. It stopped, idk why but it kinda felt like a kind ghost just letting their presence be known. I feel like a ghost, it feels like my friends and family have their relationships figured out and feel connected. I wish I had something like that. When I wanna die, I think about my sister and the playlist I made when I think about her. I watch videos about girls losing their older brother. Sometimes I really do just wanna leave earth, like right now, it feels good to finally let my feelings out like this. When I think about dying, it's silly but I think of a hot guy and he's my boyfriend, kissing him and stuff, that's all I want during my last moments, I'd be pretty content. I don't think anyone would really care THAT much if I killed myself. I would plan but I try not to let myself get to that level. I'm also a degenerate which doesn't help during dark times, like they're having fulfilling social fun while I e-sex men or plan hookups. I feel like a doomer, that was something I was worried of becoming yet I'm just here.

I'm 18, I turn 19 this year tho. idk why but aging is scary, like nothing to do with looks or anything but it's like life is serious and I'm on a ride that I can't stop and it's gonna keep going up. It's too vast, overwhelming, I can do anything now but like what, yaknow. I guess that's why I just resorted to sexual shit. I don't like this vast dull feeling tho, idk how to stop it, it's like stopping from being happy about shit I'm supposed to be happy about. Like I'm graduating this year, I got the hairstyle I finally wanted, gonna get a job, gonna start my career, gonna party, club, concert, dance, travel. I don't understand why my happiness isn't here...

I moved into a house with two friends, R and E. I moved in earlier and introduced R to my friend group because none of her friends were at university yet. Before she met them, I told her I had feelings for someone in the group. Despite this, she began subtly flirting with him. When I told her it hurt me, she said she would never date him, but later invited him over privately without telling me and only informed me at the last minute.

Within the span of about a week, she told me she thought he was flirting with her and that she wanted to pursue him. I left the house for a few days, and when I returned, I told her that if she continued pursuing him, I did not want to be friends and wanted her to keep her distance from me. She responded by saying they were now in a relationship. This happened about a week and a half after I had told her about my feelings, and he had been my friend first.

At one point, I found R and the guy together in our kitchen. I told her that he could not be in the house, and this led to an argument. She attempted to apologise, but I stood my ground and told her to leave me alone and not speak to me. After that interaction, I did not approach or engage with her again.

E, the second flatmate, said she would stay neutral but acknowledged that R was in the wrong. Over time, R stopped coming to the house frequently.

As of 07/01/2026, R moved out without telling me and informed the landlord that she felt “unsafe” living with me, which she used as a reason to end her lease. A few weeks earlier, E had also said she planned to move out, initially explaining that it was due to worsening physical health and that she wanted to pursue treatment in her hometown. However, the landlord later told me that both R and E had stated they were moving because they did not feel safe living with me.

This was shocking to me, particularly regarding E, as we never had any conflicts. She continued to knock on my door, ask to spend time with me, and sent friendly messages, including wishing me Merry Christmas. I never harassed, threatened, or confronted either of them after the initial argument with R. I respected boundaries and left R alone. Despite this, both claimed they felt unsafe, which I believe was influenced by R’s original statement and E repeating it.

As a result of these events, I feel betrayed by both R and E, as well as isolated from my wider friendship group, who have distanced themselves from me after I set boundaries.

I'm so fucking upset by all this.

I have this online friend. We're both bisexual but I lean towards girls and she leans towards guys. I have liked her before and she got her phone taken last summer. I told her and she just lind of ignored it, we both just swept it under the rug. I mean I kind of expected it anyways, she expressed that she didn't want to date anymore of her best friends because it never worked out. She came back around a month ago or two ago, and those feelings have resurfaced. I feel stuck because I have to watch her throw herself at these guys who will never see her for what she's worth. Just someone to joke about sex with and lie to. I've tried to wait out these feelings but it's just so hard. She'll probably just sweep it under the rug again.

im so embarassed to talk about girls to my friends because i dont want to come across as sappy or desperate, and i feel like i shouldnt need someone like that in my life, and i can just have close friends. but to be honest, ive never had that close of a friend before.

the girl that i was "talking" to (at least i viewed it that way) added me first, and she was super sweet when i first started talking to her. we had a few common interests and were doing all the classic texting stuff. however, i kept asking if she wanted to talk more in person because i only ever saw her during school. she kept avoiding the conversation and eventually i just said that i loved talking to her and spending time with her and that i liked her, and i asked for her number. she said that she just wanted to be friends and that i didnt do anything wrong and that im still a good person, and that shed rather just stay on snap bc its easier for her.

when we first started talking, i tried to be as authentic as possible and talked about the stresses and anxiety that i had in my life, bc honestly at the time she was one of the best friends i had ever had. i felt like i could count on her and could trust her more than i ever have even with my closest friend (i dont talk to him much anymore now that i moved far away). me and her even shared pretty personal stories about our family situations and struggles that we were having. after i told her that i liked her quite a bit, she seemed to become a bit more closed off, and i did in return. i dont really like her the same as i did before, but we still talk for a few minutes over snaps every day. however, now i feel like i have to walk on thin ice when im talking to her and have to avoid certain topics, and cant really talk about my problems like i feel like i used to be able to do with her, in fear that she'll think that i like her still. its not that i like her, its just that i miss having such a close friend and someone i could trust.

i forgot to mention, about two weeks into becoming quite close with her (or at least i thought so), i sprained my ankle and bruised my other foot pretty bad. im still hurting every day from it, meaning i cant train for football, which is the biggest and most important part of my life and my dream is to play pro. my feet are hurt so bad that i cant even walk for more than five minutes without them getting sore. rehab is so so slow, and being hurt for over two months now has made my mental health absolutely horrible. i feel so anxious all the time, and i cant escape it. im trapped in my house all day, sitting on my a** and not being able to train or play pickup with friends. my car also broke down at the same time i hurt my feet, and i havent been able to find a job for the past 4 months. i cant go anywhere, i cant do anything active, i cant even go on a walk to help clear my head. i live with my dad and stepmom, and their pretty emotionally absent. ive never been able to trust them enough to tell them about things like this, especially because it gets brought up and sometimes held over my head by them and my brother as well. i feel like my brain is trapped in a cage, ramming itself against the walls to try and get out, but only hurting itself more in the process. ive tried drawing, ive tried playing video games, etc., but nothing fills the void that soccer/football occupies in my life.

i feel horrible, not only for me, but for her as well. i feel like i lost a close friend that i could genuinely talk to, and i feel like i betrayed her trust as well by letting my emotions get the better of me and spilling them out to her all at once. i dont know if theres anything i can do to make this right, and i feel like our friendship is permanently damaged. i cant get her out of my brain, not even in a romantic way, just in a support way. im scared to apologize again bc i feel like shes already moved on from me and has replaced the time that i spent with her with someone else. she has told me a couple days ago that shes up until 2am sometimes on facetime, and it makes me so disappointed bc ive never been able to have that close of a relationship with someone, romantic or not, and it also makes me feel dispensable and like im not worth her time or effort.

ive tried watching videos and telling myself that itll all be okay, and that im worth enough. and truly, i do feel like im a good person to be around, and i check up on all of my friends, including her, very regularly. but i feel like no one has ever done that for me. i feel like im always the one trying to start conversations with other people. im always the one checking up on others. im the one asking about how theyre doing or whats going on in their lives. im always the one saying that im there for them if they ever need to rant. but i cant remember a single time that any of my friends have ever asked if i needed to rant, if i had something on my mind, if i had something i wanted to talk about. ive heard that everyone sorta feels this way, but i just dont think thats true. i feel like when i could talk to her, i finally had my person that i could lean on, but now i think ive lost it for good.

ive heard that trying to fill a void with someone is not a good way to start to any kind of friendship. and i can understand that. but right now i feel so lost and stressed out, like all of my problems are slowly seeping their way into the cage enclosing my brain, ready to drown it out. i cant take it anymore. i need someone that will listen. i need someone that can relate to me. please tell me what i can do to make this all go away, and to help me find true friends that vouch for me and will support me in times like these.

not my typical post this is a horror but no option for horror

this is chapwr one lmk what u guys think

Chapter One — The Hollow Tree

I ran but she caught me when the moon slipped behind the clouds and the world went silent.

Her grip closed around my ankle with a strength that belonged to graves and forgotten things. I fell hard, the breath knocked from my lungs, my palms sinking into the cold mulch of the forest floor. Dead leaves clung to my skin like the hands of the unburied, and for one hopeless moment I imagined that I, too, was sinking—downward—into the dark earth they all returned to.

A low hum trembled through the soil. A voice without words. A summons.

I twisted to look behind me.

I should not have.

She emerged from the dark like a memory that should have died centuries ago—long limbs bending in wrong directions, bones clicking against each other like rosary beads in restless hands. Her hair, long and dripping, veiled most of her face, though the smallest sliver of a grin stretched beneath it, white as moonlit marble and sharp as split stone.

The forest held its breath.

Even the wind dared not speak.

“Please,” I whispered, though my voice felt like it belonged to someone already fading.

Her head tilted. Not with mercy—no creature of mercy would be found in this place—but with recognition. As though she had been waiting, patient and starving, for the moment I would return.

The stories had warned me. My grandmother’s voice echoed, faint and trembling, from the deepest corners of childhood: Do not run from the Hollow Woman. She will come faster. Do not speak to her. She will hear you for a century. Do not look back. She is always closer than you think.

Yet I had done all three.

Her fingers tightened, cold as river stones, and she dragged me across the earth toward the hollow tree ahead—a towering corpse of a once-mighty oak, its trunk split open by some ancient and merciless storm. The gap gaped like a mouth, the inside impossibly dark, impossibly deep, as though it tunneled straight into the underworld.

The closer we drew, the more the forest changed. The trees bowed inward, crooked like mourners at a funeral. A smell seeped from the hollow—wet soil, rotting bark, and beneath it something sweet, like overripe fruit left too long in the sun.

“No,” I gasped, clawing at the ground. My nails scraped through moss and root, catching on stones slick with dew. My body obeyed terror’s instinct, but my mind was trapped in the slow, creeping dread that had haunted me since I first heard her voice two nights ago.

It had come with the storm.

I had been lying in my grandmother’s abandoned house—our ancestral ruin—when the lightning split the sky and the walls groaned like a living thing. A whisper curled through the cracks in the floorboards, thin as winter breath: Come back to me.

I thought it was grief. Or loneliness. Or the house settling around its last inhabitant.

But then the whisper came again.

And again.

And last night, when the moon was whole and bright, I saw her standing beneath the oak tree at the edge of the forest, her shadow stretching longer than her body should allow.

She had been waiting.

“Not yet,” I murmured, desperate, choking on soil as I fought against her grasp. “Please—not yet.”

For the first time, she paused.

Her grip, though unyielding, stilled. Slowly, achingly slowly, her face lifted, and beneath the curtain of her tangled hair I saw the hollow where her eyes should have been—deep, shadowed pits that seemed to draw in the light around them.

When she spoke, it was not with a voice but with a sound like roots cracking beneath frozen ground.

“You left me.”

My heart stuttered. A coldness spread through my chest, not the fear she inflicted but something older, deeper, something that knew her.

Because I had left her.

I didn’t understand why or how—but the moment she spoke, the truth whispered beneath my memory like something long buried scratching at the coffin lid.

“I don’t remember,” I whispered, and my own words tasted wrong, as if they were stolen from someone else’s mouth.

She dragged me another inch toward the hollow tree.

The moon finally slipped from behind the clouds then, its pale, shivering light spilling across us. For a moment—just a moment—she stopped moving. Her body stiffened. Her smile dropped into a grim line carved of stone.

The moonlight touched her skin, and she recoiled as though burned.

I felt her grip loosen.

Only a little.

Only enough.

With a cry torn raw from my throat, I twisted sharply, kicking with all the panic of a creature half-dead and unwilling to finish the job. My heel struck something soft—her face, perhaps—and her grip faltered.

I scrambled backward, breath ragged, legs shaking so violently they barely obeyed me. She hissed, a sound like a dying wind through hollow places.

But she did not lunge.

She watched.

The moonlight kept her rooted.

I staggered to my feet. Pain lanced up my knee. Blood soaked into my sock. Yet I ran—not with hope, but with the terror of someone who knows the night is far from over.

Behind me, her voice seeped through the trees like mist:

“When the moon dies, you are mine again.”

And above the forest canopy, the clouds thickened—slowly smothering the light that protected me.

I used to date this girl, but we broke up cause she didn't really like me, but we stayed best friends. I've only had one person i've ever had a crush on like me back and that's my current partner. I first got a crush on one of my guy friends, but never told him. Then one day, he told me he had a crush on her and I acted normal about it, but I actually wanted to cry. Then, I knew one of my other guy best friends liked her. but I couldn't help. but catch feelings for him. I feel like I should be angry, but i'm not. I can't help how I feel, but everyone else has told me I should be mad at her, but I'm only mad at myself.

I'm quite a sensitive person, I saw this video where this guy with his family, spread his mom's ashes into the lake and it spelled out "love" idk why but I started crying, even now, I'm tearing up. I think that's how my sadness started today. I feel ugly but not super ugly, I don't have a boyfriend, I have one online friend but we don't talk much, I have other online friends but those guys are trying to get with me or just being odd. I think I just need a boyfriend. I think I just need a hug or someone genuine to hang out with. I made a new online friend today but it feels fake. It all feels fake, I only talk to my friends when I'm in a good mood or just try my best to be friendly and all but during my worst moments, I don't have anyone. Who would love me or like me like this? I'm not supposed to burden them with this. I also feel insane. Maybe I'm just undiagnosed or something, idk.