20/07/2025
Hi
Street Journal, please post this unanimously
I’ve been carrying this for years, and it’s eating me alive.
During my final year at the University of Johannesburg, I met a boy who changed everything. We fell in love fast, deep, and real. I was a focused girl, just trying to graduate and build a future, and he made me feel seen, safe, and understood.
When I told him I wasn’t ready for s*x, he never pressured me. He waited. He loved me gently. But near the end of the year, it happened that we slept together. It was our first and last time.
The next morning, my parents came to fetch me, and that was it. I left. No goodbyes. I blocked his number, deleted all my socials, and vanished from his life without explanation.
And now, years later, I still cry about it, not because I miss him, but because I lied by silence.
I was born with HIV. I never told him. And that night… we didn’t use protection.
I don’t know where he is or how his life turned out. I pray he’s okay. But the guilt… It’s heavy. It haunts me.
I didn’t mean to hurt him. I was just scared. And I still am.
Please keep me anonymous. I just needed to finally say it...🥀😭
