FIXING WOUNDS

THE RUMOR

Ivy stopped eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The whispers were too loud. The stares were too sharp. Every time she walked in, the room went quiet like she was a bad rumor everyone already heard.

So she started eating under the big mango tree behind the science block. It was quiet there. No one went there except the cleaners and the birds.

And no one came. Not Zara. Not *Freda*. Not Dylan.

Two weeks ago, Dylan had been the only person who replied to her at night. The only person who made her feel less invisible. Now his replies were blank. Empty. One word. _“Okay.”_

Ivy stared at that message for ten minutes before she finally replied: _“Yeah I’m alright.”_

He didn’t respond.

It felt like she was forcing him to be her friend. Like she was the only one holding onto something that he’d already let go of.

So she tried again. This time she was honest.

_“I miss our friendship, Dylan. I miss talking to you.”_

His reply came an hour later: _“K.”_

That was it. One letter. As if she was forcing herself on him.

Ivy locked her phone and put it face down. Her chest felt hollow.

_Maybe Jasmine was right. Maybe I’m not meant to have people._

---

Then *Zack* transferred in.

He came from Ivy’s old school — the one she left when her family moved. The same school where she was quiet, where she had no friends, where Zero was the only person who ever really saw her.

Back then, she had a crush on him. He was quiet too, but kind. Now he was different. He played soccer. He was smart. He was friends with everyone. Girls smiled when he walked past. Guys wanted to sit with him.

Ivy recognized him instantly.

He recognized her too, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did she.

She acted like she didn’t know him. Like he was just another classmate. Because the last thing she needed was more drama. More rumors. More people thinking she was chasing someone who didn’t want her.

So she ignored him. On purpose.

That night, at midnight, Ivy saw Zara’s post.

It was a quote: _“Sometimes the people who hurt you the most are the ones you thought would stay.”_

Ivy related to it more than she wanted to admit. So she replied.

They talked for hours. Not as best friends. Not as close friends. Just as two classmates who happened to have something in common that night.

The next week, they acted the same at school. Normal. Distant. Polite. Like nothing happened.

But a week after that, Zero realized who Ivy really was.

The glow-up was real. The quiet girl from before was now prettier, taller, sharper — but the same red flag was there. The silence. The way she kept to herself. The way she never laughed out loud in class.

Zero started hanging around her again.

Ivy promised herself she wouldn’t get attached. Not again. Not after what happened with Zara and Dylan. Not after Dylan’s cold _“K”_.

But Zero wouldn’t let it go.

To him, Ivy wasn’t just an ex-classmate. She wasn’t just a crush. She was his first love. And he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t notice her.

He started sitting near her at lunch. Asking her questions. Teasing her gently.

Ivy told him to stop. Every single time.

“Zero, it’s annoying,” she’d say, eyes down, voice flat.

But it wasn’t just annoying. It was the fear that if he got close again, he’d leave too. Just like everyone else.