CHAPTER 5-THE SHAPE OF SUNLIGHT
1173 Words
The last week of school passed in a blur of rustling notebooks, scattered goodbyes, and the soft ache of change humming inside Kiana’s chest. Everyone else seemed focused on exams, on summer plans, on the familiar panic of growing up — but Kiana carried a different kind of weight. A hopeful one. A frightening one.
She hadn’t seen Zara since the almost-confession on the bridge.
She replayed it endlessly: Zara’s trembling breath, the warmth of her touch, the fear in her eyes, the moment she pulled away like she was saving herself from drowning. After that night, Zara had gone quiet. No texts. No voice notes. No yellow hoodie appearing around a corner like sunlight slipping into the room.
Kiana tried to convince herself she was fine. That people drift. That maybe what they felt was temporary, something born of rainstorms and teenage longing.
But every time she looked out the window, she found herself hoping she would see Zara again.
---
The day of the school’s end-of-term art showcase arrived like a whisper. Kiana had nearly forgotten she’d submitted a piece months ago—one she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to see now.
Her hands shook slightly as she walked through the gym, transformed with string lights and student work pinned to display boards.
There were bright watercolors, proud pencil portraits, abstract neon explosions, but people were gathered around one corner—her corner. Kiana’s heart thudded.
The piece was simple: a pencil sketch of two girls standing beneath a storm cloud, light breaking through the edges. One wore a hoodie. The other carried the rain in her eyes. Their fingertips didn’t touch, but they hovered close.
The plaque read:
“Almost.” — Kiana Adebayo
Her stomach twisted. She wanted to rip the drawing off the wall and leave. It was too raw, too revealing, too her. And she hadn’t expected Zara to ever see it.
“Kiana?”
The voice cut through her spiraling thoughts.
She turned.
Zara stood a few feet away, holding the yellow hoodie in her hands like it was something alive. Her eyes were soft, almost careful, as if she wasn’t sure she had the right to be there.
Kiana’s breath caught. “Zara… you came.”
“I needed to.” Zara swallowed, gaze shifting to the drawing. “I saw it online. The school posted a preview. I knew instantly it was us.”
Her cheeks flushed. “It… was just a sketch.”
“No,” Zara said quietly. “It was a truth.”
Silence settled between them, thick and trembling.
Kiana finally found her voice. “You disappeared.”
“I know.” Zara looked down at her shoes. “I panicked. That night… when you almost said…” She exhaled shakily. “It scared me. Not because of you. You’re… you’re the safest thing I’ve ever felt. But I wasn’t ready to admit how much I care. And I didn’t want to hurt you if I messed everything up.”
“You already did,” Kiana whispered. “You left.”
Zara closed her eyes, pain flickering across her face. “I know. And I’m sorry. I thought if I pulled away, I could pretend it was nothing. That whatever this is would fade.” She lifted her head, eyes shining. “But it didn’t. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Every day felt quieter without you.”
Kiana’s pulse fluttered like wings in her chest.
“You don’t owe me anything,” she said gently. “Not feelings. Not explanations.”
Zara took a step closer, desperate but careful. “But I want to give them to you. If you’ll let me.”
The hum of voices around them faded. It felt like the whole room paused, waiting.
Kiana’s chest tightened. “What changed?”
“You,” Zara whispered. “You drew something I’ve been too scared to say out loud. So I thought… maybe I could try being brave too.”
Her trembling hand reached out.
This time she didn’t pull away.
---
They slipped outside, leaving the noise of the exhibit behind. The sky was bright, warm, an impossible blue—so different from the rainy night where everything began.
They walked until they reached the quiet courtyard behind the library. The world felt softer there. Almost private.
“Kiana,” Zara said, voice steadier now, “I’m not good at this. At… feelings. Or saying things right. But I want to try.”
Kiana smiled faintly. “I’m not asking for perfect.”
Zara exhaled, relief flickering over her features. “Okay. Then here’s the truth.” She looked directly at her, eyes dark and honest. “I like you. A lot. In a way that scares me and makes me feel alive at the same time.”
Kiana’s breath hitched.
Zara continued, voice rough around the edges. “And I don’t want to run anymore. Not from you.”
Kiana stepped closer until their shoulders nearly touched. “Good. Because I was tired of chasing shadows.”
A small, emotional laugh slipped from Zara. “You make me brave.”
“Maybe we make each other brave.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
The sunlight crawled across Zara’s face, softening the edges of her fear. She looked different in daylight. Softer. Realer. Human in a way Kiana hadn’t expected, all vulnerability and hope tangled together.
“Can I…” Zara hesitated, breath trembling. “Can I hold your hand?”
Kiana didn’t answer with words.
She simply slipped her fingers through Zara’s.
The world didn’t explode. Time didn’t stop. But something inside Kiana shifted—the same quiet click she felt the first moment she saw her. Except now it wasn’t confusion or longing.
It was certainty.
Zara let out a trembling breath. “It feels like this was supposed to happen.”
“Maybe it was,” Kiana whispered.
They stayed like that for a long moment, hands warm, hearts unsteady.
Then Zara spoke again, softer than ever.
“Can I tell you something else?”
“Hm?”
“You’re not ‘almost’ anything,” she whispered. “You’re the whole thing.”
Kiana’s heart ached in the best possible way. She squeezed Zara’s hand.
“And you’re worth waiting for,” she said. “Even if it took a storm to find you.”
Zara leaned her forehead against hers, the light brushing over them in a halo. No rain this time—only the quiet of a beginning, formed not from lightning, but from the steady warmth of choosing each other.
Kiana didn’t know what the future held.
But for the first time, she wasn’t scared of wanting something real.
Zara’s voice brushed her cheek. “So… what happens now?”
Kiana smiled.
“Now?” She drew a soft breath. “We walk forward. Together.”
Hand in hand, they stepped out of the shade and into the sunlight.
The storm had passed.
And something beautiful had begun.
- Writer
