That evening, as I walked through the door of my home, I didn't head for my books or my music. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the girl who had been called the 'Ugly Child' and the 'Innocent' girl.
"Being good hasn't protected me," I whispered to my reflection. "Being kind only made me a target."
A dark determination began to settle in my eyes. I decided that building a wall on the outside wasn't enough; I had to change my nature from the inside. I wanted to be Cruel. I wanted to sharpen my words like knives so that the next time those girls approached me, I could give them a "taste of their own medicine" that would leave them bitter.
I began to practice a new face—one that was cold, distant, and hard. I promised myself I would no longer be the girl who looked for connections. From now on, I would be the one who looked for weaknesses.
"But in her rush to become a Warrior, Iris was blind to the atmosphere around her. She was so focused on her plan for the jealous girls that she didn't notice the shifting shadows in her own life. She had no idea that something—or someone—was already waiting for her. A new "change" was coming, a challenge she hadn't prepared for, and her new Cruel mask might not be enough to stop it."
The silence of the house felt different that night. It wasn't the peaceful silence of a 'Safe Place' anymore; it was the cold, sharp silence of a fortress.
"Survival isn't for the kind," I told myself, my voice devoid of its usual softness. "The 'Cruel World' doesn't respect tears. It only respects power."
I made a vow to myself: From this moment on, I would be Selfish. But in reality, changing my character within few months was really difficult. So I kept repeating these lines everyday.
I buried myself in my books. Hours turned into a blur of ink and paper. I became busy—not with life, but with the walls I was building. I decided that my time was my own, and I should spend it only on things that made me stronger.
After Luca's sharp warning, the atmosphere in the classroom shifted. The jealous girls didn't disappear, but they became ghosts. They were clearly afraid of Luca's directness and his protective stance. They no longer approached me with fake smiles or whispered questions about my relationship.The rumors didn't stop completely, but they moved far away from my ears.
Everything became quite as usual.
Then, the exams were approaching and the atmosphere was changing. The hallways that were once filled with gossip were now filled with the sound of turning pages. The projects were massive, and the syllabus was endless. Everyone, including the toxic girls, got swallowed by their books.
I and Luca, once so close, were pulled apart by the sheer force of our studies. We didn't have time for long walks or deep conversations about grief. Our connection was reduced to short, Practical messages on their phones:
"Are you done with the assignment?"
"Don't forget the submission deadline at 5 PM."
"Did you eat lunch? Keep going, you can do it."
It was just like before—quiet, focused, and lonely. I felt that as long as I kept this behavior, everything would be alright. I used this busy time as an excuse to strengthen my new Selfish nature. If I didn't have time to talk, I didn't have to feel. I convinced myself that this distance was a good thing, a way to protect my Unbreakable Spirit from getting too attached.
The weeks turned into a blurred cycle of lectures, library sessions, and late-night assignments. My life became a mountain of group projects and high-stakes exams. On the other side, Luca was busy in his duties and spent his energy helping other students.
We were so busy that sometimes a week would pass without a single face-to-face conversation . But strangely, our relationship didn't feel weak. It was as if an invisible thread connected us. A simple "Good luck" message or a brief nod in the hallway was enough to remind me that he was still my good friend. We didn't need constant words; we shared a silent understanding that our goals came first.
"We are both fighting for our futures," I told myself, "So I should also do my best."
But this focus came with a heavy price. I became a ghost in my own home. I started to return late, my mind still filled with theories and lectures of my professors. But I was still suffering from insomnia, so whenever I couldn't sleep, I got up and took my books and started to read. Because I knew it too well that I didn't have any moment to waste.
I stopped noticing the small changes in my family's behavior. I stopped hearing the whispers behind closed doors.
I was looking at the stars of my career, completely unaware that the ground beneath my house was starting to crack. Something was happening at home—something "Intense" and "Cruel"—and by the time I looked up from my books, it might be too late to stop it.
For the first time in eighteen years, I felt like I was standing on solid ground. I looked at my reflection and saw a woman who was finally 'doing okay.'
But as the silence of my success settled around me, a cold shiver of puzzled intuition climbed up my spine.
My past had taught me a bitter lesson: in my life, peace was never a destination—it was only a pause. I knew that whenever I let my guard down, whenever I whispered to myself that everything is quite well, the universe took it as a challenge. My experience had turned me into a girl who couldn't hear silence without listening for the scream that usually followed it.
One day I sat in the quiet of the library, the flickering lights feeling like a countdown. "Is this just the silence before the storm?" I wondered, my heart beginning to pant with a familiar anxiety.
I felt it in the air—the sensation of invisible strings being pulled just out of my sight.
I wishper,"Someone, somewhere, is preparing a 'surprise' that can shatter my quiet world once again. I've built my walls, I've changed my nature, and my studies are going well but what is this uneasy feeling".
"The storm doesn't give a warning to the innocent; it only waits for them to feel safe.
What is coming for Iris just as she finally found her breath? Will her new Selfish strength be enough to survive the crash, or is this the one storm that will finally break her Unbreakable Spirit?
Wait until the next chapter to find out what is waiting in the shadows."