The week felt heavier than usual, like the air itself was pressing against Bella's shoulders. She drifted through the hallways quietly, the way someone moves when they don't want to take up too much space. Yuri and Rose were inseparable now laughing, whispering, walking side by side. Bella still walked with them sometimes, but she felt like an extra bag they carried along without realizing.
It wasn't that she hated Rose. Rose was friendly, bright, the type of girl who fit everywhere without trying. But the more Rose shined, the more Bella felt herself fading at the edges. It hurt in ways she didn't know how to explain.
Palm didn't make things any easier.
She had a talent for slipping poison into the air without ever admitting it.
Every time Palm passed Bella, she'd drop a comment just loud enough:
"Leo's not into her."
"She should stop dreaming."
"She's reading too much into things."
None of it was direct, nothing she could confront. But that's the thing about whispers they crawl into your chest and settle there.
Leo didn't help either.
He smiled at Bella, joked with her, leaned in during group work like he wanted her attention. But he never stayed long enough to be solid. Just long enough to confuse her.
Bella watched him carefully.
She'd learned early that smiles could hide sharp edges.
She didn't want to fall for that.
But even caution can't stop curiosity.
Then, everything cracked in one moment.
Bella overheard Palm talking not loudly, just enough.
Leo had been spending time with Rose. The same Rose who had once left. The same Rose who somehow still spun around Leo's orbit even from a distance.
And suddenly everything made sense.
The mixed signals.
The half-truths.
The way Palm smirked when Bella walked past.
Bella wasn't special.
She wasn't chosen.
She was just… convenient. Something to tease, something to play with, something for Palm to use in her little drama.
Her chest tightened painfully as the truth settled in. All the glances, the almost-conversations maybe they meant nothing. Maybe she had been the only one trying to read meaning into them.
She walked home slowly that day, staring at the ground, kicking at little stones on the road. Embarrassment burned in her stomach. But beneath the hurt, something else stirred something quiet but fierce.
She wasn't going to let them break her.
She wasn't going to let whispers decide her worth.
She wasn't going to let Leo, or Palm, or anyone else write her story for her.
She might still be learning how to speak up…
But she was learning.