Peace the Savage

Chapter 2: The reflection

LATER THAT NIGHT, PEACE STARED at the phone screen, the message from a new chat blinking like a neon sign:

“I dare you, Peace. One girl. Official relationship. No games. One month.”

He chuckled dryly. Typical. His friends knew he would never taken anyone seriously — not because he was cold-hearted, but because it all seemed… unnecessary. Relationships were messy, unpredictable. And Peace preferred order. Control.

But now, here it was. A dare. A challenge.

He tossed the phone on his bed, paced his room, then stood still. A strange weight settled on his chest — not fear exactly, but the discomfort of stepping into unfamiliar territory. Could he even do it? Would anyone believe him if he tried?

Love was something he only watched from a distance, never touching it, never letting it touch him.

Peace sighed, a crooked smile playing on his lips.

“Just one girl,” he murmured. “How hard can that be?”

But something deep down whispered: harder than you think.

HE COULD ALMOST SEE all their faces. All of them- seven of them. Girls who thought they were dating him, all at once. He had scratched Esther off the list. That girl had been a pain in the ass. She always wanted to show the world that the two were something and that wasn't what Peace wanted. That would mean that the two were officially something. That would have gone against everything Peace stood for. Esther was that kind of girl who tried to hold him in public, kiss him when her friends were available, and that was one of the reasons he had dismissed her. He remembered her singing him the song by Little Mix and Jason Derulo called Secret love and Peace had broken up with her the same day, giving her a lame reason that their relationship was hopeless and could never work. She had cried, and instead of trying to comfort her, Peace had left her alone. Now that he thought about it, he realized how wrong he had been, but surprisingly, he felt no guilt. He really was a monster, or, as his friends called him, a savage. But truth be told, Peace assured himself, he had done her a favour. Rather than lying to her that she was his girlfriend or something which she wasn't, Peace had spared her the hurt she would get in the future. Over and over, again.

Now Mitchell had requested him to try and settle for one girl. That was rather a difficult task for someone like him, but he would have to try anyway. He despised hurting people, but it just happened on its own accord. And that's the world we are living in. Either you hurt someone or you get hurt yourself. Peace preferred the first option.

Peace had never thought of himself as cruel — not really. But somewhere along the line, he had convinced himself that feelings were a luxury he couldn’t afford. He never promised forever. He never said “I love you.” And he made sure they knew what it was from the start.

It was justice, in a way. Justice for all the times he’d seen love turn people into ghosts of themselves. Love was a thief — and Peace had vowed never to be its victim. Or worse, its fool.

So he hurt them before they could hurt him. He was honest about his intentions, cold in his exits, distant in between. No attachments. No illusions.

“If they got burned,” he would say, “they lit the match themselves.”

But like he had said to Mitchell, people don't just change overnight. He had his own style and ways and to change them would take forever. He would try anyway. Maybe if he settled for one girl all the savage in him would disappear.

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