Hidden in Flame

   Secrets.

   A girl has a lot of them locked up. She will never let them out. She will keep her promises. Even then, she needs to get rid of the drama playing in her mind somehow. She can't let it twist her inside - she doesn't want to become her own worst nightmare: someone who gives secrets to others to hold. She has borne enough to know that this is the most difficult gift, one that can never be returned, taken back, only given again... So she finds an outlet that can hold such gift: the partnership of paper and flame.

   "There's a boy that I know who seems so sweet, so normal... He told me he has depression.

   "A girl in my homeroom has secrets surrounding her like fog: she's done drugs, she's stolen things, and she's lied... to the police.

   "Another boy, one I still have a crush on, got drunk and sent bad images - like really bad  - to a friend of mine... She spread the word around to everyone, and now I can't look at him the same way, but I still like him. I have no idea what to do.

   "A teammate of mine can't help but still have feelings for his ex, but she's a player. She basically told him to 'wait his turn.' That's horrible! I wish I could spread the word so everyone else is warned, but he told me not to tell...

   "My lab partner told me that she broke up with her boyfriend because she decided he wasn't popular enough for her. Personally, I think that's really low, but it's not my place to judge her.

   "My mother has been cheating on my father with our neighbor. I keep catching her walking from his house with her hair disheveled and her outfit crumpled, but I shut my mouth. Dad would be devastated...

   "My own secrets are few and far between, but the worst... it's truly worse than all I've ever had to hold for others. I could just write it out, set it in the flame, and be done with it all. I should; here goes. I'm done. I want all of it off my back. If anyone finds this other than the flame, don't bother looking for me: I'll be too far gone, too far away that no one will find me in this life. If anyone would need me that bad... they can find me in the next."