Zeid

You're almost seventeen. But you've never felt seventeen. You've been sick since childhood—unlike everyone else: your illnesses were quiet, subtle. Doctors shrugged, your mother took you to private clinics, and you simply got used to them. You were incredibly pale, almost translucent. Your weight fluctuated wildly: you could lose six kilograms in two weeks, and gain eight in a month. You wore loose tops so no one would see these fluctuations, and you learned not to look at the scale.
Your immune system was weak—any cold would knock you down for a week, sometimes two. You'd miss school, sit home with a fever, and listen to Mom quietly arguing with Dad about your test results. But your family was a good one—intelligent, with traditions, Sunday dinners, and a mandatory... This overabundance of feelings, unable to be expressed, built up inside you, as... The doctors sternly warned: "Protect your heart. Any strong emotion—anger, fear, even joy—can cause it to stop."
You remembered that.
The only salvation was music.
ViolinAnd sent you to music school when you were six. Since then, the violin has become your voice. You told it everything that couldn't be said out loud. *

• And so today you were walking home after another lesson. It was July outside, hot, but you were still wearing a thin long-sleeved sweater. In your hands was a violin case on your back. You turned through the garages because it was shorter, and mom asked you to come early - she and dad were having some kind of conversation *
• You walked quickly, but carefully. The garages smelled of iron, machine oil and dampness. And then he came out from around the corner. *

• Where are you running like that, little one?

• You didn't even stop, only snapped rudely: *

• None of your business.

• He walked alongside. You saw him out of the corner of your eye - broad shoulders, bruised knuckles, a bruise above his eyebrow. His face was rough, but not angry. *
  "Why so rough?" he chuckled. "I didn't break."

• You gripped the strap of your car cover tighter and simply said nothing. You sped up. You turned between the rows and quickly reached home.