“The girl like me”

She was new to the neighbourhood, she didn’t seem like the other girls around here.
Most of these girls get dressed up to leave the house, something about her made me think she did things in reverse.
At first I thought she could be a girl like me, the girl that would become my friend, but she hasn’t made eye contact with me since that first day I saw her on the street.
We didn’t exchange words, just a smile and a nod as she passed me with a lollipop in her mouth and headphones in her ears. I wondered what she was listening to, what went on in her head, why did she always walk alone?
Being a new girl in this town can be hard, I know from experience, but as much as I wanted to approach her it was as though she was holding up a guard.
She moved with a perfect combination of confidence and innocence which always left me curious to know more about her.
I often wondered what she was hiding, was she hiding from the outside world or hiding from herself?
Maybe that is what I found so intriguing about her, was it like looking into the mirror?
A girl that was full of secrets she promised herself that she would keep.
Photography by David Collier
Words/Story by Danni Lee Jackson
Model is Niki Hrstic
Assistance by Kristyna Erbenova