Marked

Chapter 2 is about being marked.

Have you ever just felt different? Not because you were trying to be. Not because you wanted attention. But because something about you made people look twice — and not always in a kind way.

I got labeled early. And not for something wild or rebellious. I wore a dress on picture day… and then I kept wearing one. Every day. That was enough. Enough to stand out. Enough to be talked about. Enough to be decided about without anyone really knowing me.

Have you ever had a friend one day — laughing, sitting together, sharing secrets — and then the next day they’re just gone? No explanation. Just distance. And somehow the blame circles back to you? That kind of confusion sticks with you.

Chapter 2 walks through a season of change — in my family, in my school, in the way people saw me. It was the slow realization that I might be marked. Not in a dramatic way. Just in the subtle way people glance, whisper, assume.

And when you’re young, you don’t have language for that yet. You just feel it.

So I had a choice to make.

Do I become invisible? Shrink down. Blend in. Try not to be noticed.

Or do I grow thick skin? Become immune to words I can’t control and opinions I never asked for?

Chapter 2 is where I started learning that sometimes being marked isn’t about being wrong. Sometimes it’s about being different before the world knows what to do with you.

And I was going to have to decide how I would carry that.