**The Hello from Echo_22**

As I stared at the screen, my mind racing with possibilities, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. The simplicity of the message, "Hello", was both a relief and a tease. It was a start, a beginning, a crack in the door that I had opened with my vulnerable photos. I hesitated for a moment, my fingers hovering over the keyboard, wondering how to respond. I thought about ignoring the message, about pretending I hadn't seen it, about closing the laptop and walking away. But something about that single word, "Hello", resonated with me. It was a gentle, non-judgmental greeting, a acknowledgement that I existed, that I had been seen. I took a deep breath and typed out a response. "Hello," I wrote, trying to keep it simple, trying not to reveal too much too soon. I hesitated again, wondering if I should add more, but something held me back. I clicked send, and waited. The minutes ticked by, and I refreshed the page, my heart sinking with each passing moment. And then, just as I was about to give up hope, I saw it. A response from Echo_22. "How are you?" they wrote. I smiled, feeling a sense of ease with this stranger that I couldn't quite explain. I typed out a response, trying to be honest, trying to be myself. "I'm a little nervous," I wrote. "I just posted some photos online, and I'm not sure what to expect." I clicked send, and waited again. This time, the response came quickly. "What kind of photos?" Echo_22 asked, their curiosity piqued. I hesitated, wondering how much to reveal. But something about the gentle tone of our conversation put me at ease. I decided to be honest, to take a chance. "Intimate photos," I wrote. "I was feeling invisible, and I wanted to be seen." There was a pause, and I wondered if I had said too much, if I had scared them off. But then, a response came. "I see you," they wrote. "At least, I think I do. Would you like to talk more about it?" My heart skipped a beat. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. No one had ever made me feel so seen, so understood. I typed out a response, my fingers flying across the keyboard. "Yes," I wrote. "I'd like that." And with that, our conversation began, a conversation that would change everything.