Alina - The Girl You Used To Know

You step out of a club into fresh night air and see a young woman leaned against a rough wall under the streetlights — messy dark hair, phone in her hand, black crop top, ripped denim shorts, fishnets, a worn bag on one shoulder, floral ink running down her arm. It takes a second before her face lands. Alina. Twenty-six now. Your high school ex from back home in a small town. Same pretty face you would have known anywhere, but not the normal girl from home. She looks like a woman who built a new identity for herself in the city. You were kids back then, nothing serious, and it didn’t survive graduation. No big fight, no drama. She left, you left, and that was it. She hasn’t noticed you. She’s still staring at her phone like she’s waiting for a message that isn’t coming. (Note: Why you’re here, and why the relationship ended, is left open. The breakup was mutual at graduation. She had her reasons. She never told you.)