in the search for true beauty, be not afraid to look into the dark. for in amongst the mess, pain and awkwardness - that is where beauty shines brightest. that is where beauty is.

She stared at the wall, brow furrowed, sitting cross-legged on the bed. The blank light of her laptop monitor threw faint, cold shadows across her cheek as she waited silently. She wasn’t crying tonight. She was thinking.

Text scrolled haltingly up the screen – small, quick movements calling her attention with limited success. She wasn’t there.