Night At The Library (Lost Souls #1)

Chapter 11: Julie

"You truly are a storyteller, Julie!" Will exclaimed with admiration. "Why don't you continue it and maybe publish it?"

His words filled me with a sense of validation and excitement. The idea of sharing my story with a wider audience sparked a flicker of possibility in my mind, igniting a newfound determination to bring my tale to life beyond our conversation.

"I don't know," I confessed, a mix of vulnerability and determination in my voice. "I've always found comfort in creating stories and other worlds, to hide from what was going on around me."

As I spoke, memories of my past flooded back, the sting of middle school bullying still fresh in my mind despite the passage of time.

Kids laughing at me for my background, for my height, for my weight... Everything to their eyes was wrong about me; it was through reading and imagination that I became cool, through my eyes at least. Their words just an echo turned into silence with the crack of a book.

"Why do you read so much?" I remember kids asking me all the time.

"I just love travelling and shapeshifting." That answer would actually get them so confused they would leave me alone; call me "weird" under their breath. I was always alone after that. Books being my only friends. When I finally went to High School people would just ignore me. Walking by me or bumping into me like I was just a ghost. Writing started to turn into medicine. I began to build my armor.

"Back in middle school, I was bullied," I confessed to Will, my voice wavering slightly with emotion. "Books and writing became my sanctuary, a refuge from the pain and loneliness. It was where I could be anyone and go anywhere, escaping into the realms of my imagination to find solace."

I decided to open up to Will