🌼 The Post-it Wall

“The only validation you need is your own.”

Chapter 1 — Invisible

Clara walked through the school hallways like a ghost.
She never caused trouble. Never made noise. Never stood out.
Teachers sometimes called her by the wrong name.
Students forgot her the moment she left the room.

She always wore the same oversized jacket, a quiet sweater, her hair tied up without effort.
She had that way of lowering her eyes when someone spoke to her. Of fading into the background.
She wasn’t exactly sad.
She was… dimmed. Quietly.

At home, her room was a refuge. Her phone, her mirror.
And social media—an endless storm of perfect smiles and edited lives.
She scrolled. She compared. She disappeared a little more.

One night, after a heavy day, she stood in front of her mirror.
And for the first time, she didn’t look for someone else to resemble.
She looked for herself.

She grabbed an old yellow post-it pad and a black pen.
She wrote:
“You don’t need them to love you. You need to love yourself.”

She stuck it in the center of her mirror.
And went to bed without expecting a miracle.

Chapter 2 — One Post-it a Day

The next morning, she read the note.
Something inside her lifted. Just a little.

So she wrote another:
“You are not a draft. You are already a full story.”

Then another the next day:
“You’re allowed to exist even if no one claps for you.”

Bit by bit, her mirror filled up.
With short, quiet sentences.
But they were true.

Every morning, she added a new one.
Every night, she read one at random.

Clara wasn’t confident yet. But she was building something.
A wall against judgment, silence, and invisibility.
A wall just for her.

Chapter 3 — The Fall

There was Inès.
The only person Clara truly talked to.
Funny, bright, magnetic.
Different—but kind. Or so Clara thought.

They met in the library, shared playlists, sketches, and secrets.
Inès seemed to listen. To care.
It felt rare. And precious.

Until everything fell apart.

One Thursday in November.
In study hall, Inès left her phone on the table and went to the bathroom.
The screen lit up. A WhatsApp notification.
A group chat: “School’s Hidden Gems 😂”
Clara saw her own name in the preview.

She hesitated. Then tapped the screen.

She scrolled through names.
Found a screenshot—one of her own messages from the week before:

“Thanks for the other day. It really helped to talk to you.”

Right below, Inès had written:

“Look what she sent me 😂 So sweet, poor thing. She actually thinks we’re friends 😭”

Clara froze.

She closed the app.
Placed the phone back exactly as it was.
And when Inès came back, she smiled like nothing had changed.

She said nothing.
Sent no more messages.
Hoped for nothing.

Chapter 4 — The Wall Holds

At first, Inès noticed Clara talking less.
She made a few vague comments:

“You’re being weird lately.”
“Are you mad at me or something?”

But Clara gave no answers.
And Inès, not used to being ignored, didn’t dig deeper.
She simply moved on.
As if Clara had only ever been a side story in her social universe.

Clara returned to her post-it wall.
Each note meant more now.
They weren’t just words—they were anchors.

“You are not a backup character. You are your own main role.”
“You don’t need people who look down on you to stand tall.”
“Your worth isn’t measured by those too blind to see it.”

Then one night, she added:
“You don’t need revenge to feel repaired.”

Chapter 5 — The Mirror, Revealed

Weeks passed.
Her mirror was now completely covered.
She could no longer see her reflection.
And yet, she recognized herself more than ever.

She had stopped waiting for approval.
She had stopped shrinking to fit.
She had stopped asking to be chosen.

One morning, she peeled the post-its off—one by one.
Not to throw them away.
But to keep them.

She placed them in a small box, decorated it, and wrote one word on the lid:
“Me”

And then, for the first time in months, she looked at her reflection.
She didn’t see a perfect girl.
But she saw someone standing tall.
And that was more than enough.

Epilogue — The Forgotten Note

A few months later, a new student arrived.
Quiet. Shy.
Clara noticed her immediately.

She didn’t approach.
She didn’t speak.
But before going home, Clara slipped something into the new girl’s locker.
A yellow post-it.
With six handwritten words:

“The only validation you need is yours.”