He Called Me Needy, Then Lost

y Gla

in the air, unanswered, a silent accusation. Now, as the bus rumbled

Right. August's new series had a big public event today. A press conference, maybe? My finger, still raw from c

s small screen. An entertainment channel. My heart sank. Ther

"Alana Edwards Battles Online Trolls

at them delicately with a tissue. She was addressing the ru

ice trembling. "I just want to be judged fo

ed eyes. The audience, a mix of report

n Alana's back, a gesture so tender it made my throat ache. He then

nerable artist. To attack her like this, to spread such baseless rumors... it's despicable." He looked directly in

und that startled the woman next to me. She looked at me with concern,

lf. For the naive, foolish woman I had been. I couldn't stop them. They streamed down

my distress, patted my arm g

ssment was a fresh wave of heat. Crying on a

Monica Pier," th

," I mumbled to the kind stranger, then stumbled

bus. I walked aimlessly, the sound of the ocean a distant roar. My mind

target of vicious, sustained online attacks, when my social media was flooded with hateful

was "too busy." He

n I showed him a particularly vile comment that wish

ing a gold digger? One fan had even found my old high school photos and posted them online, mocking

ks that left me gasping for air. I lost weight. My hair started falling out. The doctor

shoot, I was a wreck. I showed him the ar

wrapped. Just a little longer." He hugged me briefly, a perfunctory embrace, then turned hi

thod acting" made him distant, but that his love for me was always there, simmering beneath the surface. I made

protectiveness he' d never shown me... it was a brutal awakening. The man who had dismis

. He just chose where to direc

n my bones. I wasn't just forgettable.