The day I turned thirteen, I didn’t wake up feeling different. No magical transformation, no sudden clarity. Just the same messy room, the same anxiety about an upcoming exam, and the same feeling of being stuck between wanting independence and needing help. That’s the thing about being a teenager: you’re expected to have it all figured out, but most days, you’re just trying to figure out who you are between one breath and the next.
Fire, chaos, angst, happiness, anger: a teen’s got it all swirling inside at once. But more than anyone else, a teenager often doesn’t know how to handle it.