A girl walked by herself on the sidewalk. Her hair was tied in a bun and her long sleeves were rolled down, despite the hot weather.

She could hear the chatter of the group of girls that were walking behind her and winced when they mentioned her name.

She began to walk faster, to get away from those other girls, but bumped into a teenage boy, who looked around the same age, in the process.

She gasped and quickly said her apology. The boy was startled on how scared the girl was and the words, "it's okay.." came out of his mouth in a whisper.

The girls in the rear began to laugh and the girl kept her head down so her bangs could cover her eyes.

She said "sorry" once more before running off in the direction of her home.

When she arrived, her mother greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hello, dear." She said and the girl nodded, holding her shirt in the area of her heart. She was tired. Both physically and mentally.

"Are you okay, honey?" Her mother asked with worry.

The girl simply smiled. "I'm okay." She said and her mom calmed down.

"That's good." The woman seemed to want to to say more but was called over by the girl's father. She quickly walked over to her husband, leaving her daughter alone at the doorway.

The girl sighed and went to her room, falling onto her bed and covering her face in her pillow.

She felt something wet on her cheek and when she put her hand under her eye, she realized that she was crying.

The truth was, she wasn't okay. She wasn't at the least okay. But she couldn't tell anyone. She didn't want to worry her family and her friends.

She didn't want to burden them. And the other thing was something she felt so bad for thinking. She felt as if they wouldn't understand, even if she told them about her problems.

With all those factors, why would she tell them?

But the mental stress was becoming overwhelming. She pretended that she didn't care about the rumors being spread about her. She pretended that she didn't care what others thought of her. She pretended that she was so strong.

But all of those were lies. She did care about the rumors. She did care about what others said about her. And she wasn't strong at all.

There was nothing for her to do though. Nothing that she could do that could stop the pain she was going through.

She just wanted for it to all go away. For it to all fade away.

But life wasn't as easy as that.

Before she knew it, she was sleeping, tears still streaming down her face.

---

When the girl woke up once again, the sun's rays were peeking into her room through the curtains on the window.

She yawned and stretched her arms, wiping her eyes our of habit.

She winced when she did that. Confused, she went to the bathroom to see what the problem was.

When she looked in the mirror, she saw red marks under her eyes, showing that she was crying a lot.

She panicked. If the others at school saw this, she would be bullied even more. But at the same time, she didn't want to be a burden on her family and worry her friends.

She took a deep breath and prepared for school, quickly exiting her house so her parents wouldn't see her puffy eyes.

---

When the girl arrived at school, she made sure that her hoodie was covering most of her face. She walked slowly to her first class, catching the scattered attention of fellow students.

She heard whispers and bit her lip so she wouldn't cry. She walked faster into the building but bumped into someone.

She looked up to see it was the same boy from yesterday.

"Hey," he started to say, his voice full with a type of purity you don't find everyday. "Are you okay?"

He must have noticed her eyes.

The girl quickly shook her head to signal a yes.

The boy frowned and the girl got scared when he started walking towards her.

"U-umm...... "She stuttered and gasped as her back hit a wall.

The boy looked serious and worried at the same time. He looked like he was sincere.

But the girl didn't see that. She only saw a guy trying to take advantage of her.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked, out of the blue. This startled the girl and she gave him a confused glance.

"u-um.." the girl didn't know how to answer that. She was okay, but she wasn't.

The girl decided to flash a fake smile and go on the route she had always gone on.

"I'm not okay." She said and she widened her eyes. What did she just say?

She looked up at the boy with panic.

"Ah, n-no! That's not what I-"

She was interrupted by the boy hugging her. She was surprised when she felt tears stream down her face.

What surprised her even more is that her arms reached out and hugged him back.

"It's fine to be not okay." He said and that made the girl break down.

Those were the words she wanted to hear. She wanted to know that it was okay to be not okay.

And it is. You can't be okay all the time. Sometimes, you just aren't okay.

The boy continued to hug the girl. He had always known that the girl was going through pain. He saw her in his classes and saw how she communicated with others. He saw the looks on her face when she was ignored or forgotten.

The girl thought that she had everyone fooled but she didn't. The boy knew the truth.

When you aren't okay, you shouldn't keep it all inside you. Talk to someone. Even if it's just one person, it'll relieve some of your stress.

And even if you think no one cares about you, there is someone that does notice your pain and will always be there for you.

You just need to find that person.

Then, you really will be okay.