CHAPTER 11 — The Silence After the Storm
1223 Words
CHAPTER 11 — The Silence After the Storm
School felt strangely loud the next morning.
Voices buzzed through the halls, lockers slammed, laughter spilled from groups of friends… yet for Amani, everything moved like a distant echo. It was as if she were walking underwater — slow, muted, unfocused.
Her head felt heavy from the cold, and her sleep had been filled with fever and fragments of nightmares she wished she could forget.
But most of all…
it was the USB drive in her bag that kept squeezing every breath out of her chest.
She barely heard Elias calling her name when she reached the gate.
“Amani! Hey—wait!”
She paused, forcing a small smile. “Good morning.”
Elias studied her immediately.
“You look pale… and tired. Did you sleep?”
“A little,” she lied.
“You’re still sick.” He touched her forehead lightly. “You’re warm. You need to—”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, stepping away.
His brows drew together. Something in her tone told him not to push. He nodded, though worry clouded his eyes.
“Okay. But if anything happens, you call me. Promise.”
She swallowed. “Promise.”
But she already knew she wouldn’t call.
---
In Class
Amani sat in her usual seat, staring blankly at the chalkboard as the teacher wrote equations. Numbers blurred into shapes. Her chest tightened whenever her hand brushed against her schoolbag.
The USB drive.
The truth.
A truth she wasn’t ready for.
Her mind kept replaying yesterday’s moment with the teacher. The way she had pressed the drive into Amani’s hand.
“This was found on the old security computer. I think you should have it.”
“What’s on it?”
“You’ll know when you’re ready.”
Ready.
Amani didn’t feel ready for anything. Not the truth. Not the past. Not the memories she had fought so hard to bury.
Her vision blurred. The teacher’s voice faded.
What if the video showed everything?
What if it proved what Ethan did?
What if it showed her at her weakest moment… her most shameful one?
Amani blinked rapidly, gripping her pen.
It happened. It wasn’t your fault.
But that whisper in her mind wasn’t enough. Not after a year of being told she was lying. Not after being blamed. Not after her own mother had chosen a rich boy over her.
Her stomach twisted.
Elias glanced over at her. His worried eyes softened.
She looked away.
---
Break Time
Zariah found her under the acacia tree where they always sat.
“Girl, you don’t look okay,” she said gently, dropping her bag and sitting close. “Is it the cold? Or is it… something else?”
Amani shrugged. “Just tired.”
Zariah wasn’t convinced. “Talk to me.”
But Amani couldn’t. Not yet. She loved Zariah—Zariah had shown her more kindness in a few days than half the world had shown her in her whole life.
Yet… this was too big. Too raw.
“I’ll be okay,” she said softly.
Zariah squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to pretend with us. You have me. And you have Elias.”
Amani nodded without meeting her eyes.
---
After School
Students rushed out of class in excited waves, chattering about weekend plans and exams. Amani packed slowly, her movements robotic.
Her whole body felt heavy — as if something was pulling her downward, deeper and deeper.
Elias waited at the door.
“Walk home together?” he asked.
Amani’s breath caught. She wanted to. God, she wanted to. Being next to him made her feel safe. Made her feel like the world wasn’t as monstrous as it truly was.
But she couldn’t let him follow her today.
Not where she was going.
Not to what she needed to face.
“Not today,” she whispered. “I… I need to do something.”
His jaw tightened in concern. “Something like what?”
“Just…” She forced a smile. “Homework. Errands. Nothing special.”
He stepped closer. “Amani, look at me.”
She did. And the worry in his eyes almost broke her.
“If you need me—”
“I know.”
But she stepped away anyway.
Elias didn’t stop her, though his fists clenched as he watched her walk out of the gate alone.
He felt something was wrong. Deeply wrong. But he respected her space — for now.
Amani didn’t look back.
---
Home
Her room felt colder than usual when she shut the door behind her.
She sat on the floor against her bed, her hands trembling as she pulled the USB drive from her bag. Such a small object. Just a piece of plastic and metal.
But it held her truth.
Her pain.
Her darkest night.
And she didn’t know whether seeing it would destroy her completely or help her breathe again.
She plugged it into her small laptop.
A folder appeared instantly.
VIDEO_01
Her heart thudded painfully. She closed the laptop. Opened it again. Closed it. Opened it again.
Her breath was shaky, uneven. Tears threatened to spill.
She wasn’t ready.
She would never be ready.
But she needed to know.
With trembling fingers, she clicked the video.
The screen flickered to life.
The old school hallway camera.
A date.
A timestamp.
The night it happened.
Amani felt her blood run cold. Her breath hitched. Her heart pounded so loud she could hear it in her ears.
There she was…
Her younger self…
Walking down the corridor, clutching books, nervous, hopeful.
And then Ethan entered the frame.
Tall. Smiling. Handsome.
The boy she had once trusted.
The boy she had once liked.
Tears blurred her vision instantly.
“No… no… please…” she choked.
The video played anyway.
She watched everything.
How he lured her behind the old building.
How he cornered her.
How she froze.
How she begged him to stop.
How he didn’t.
Her hands covered her mouth as a sob tore from her throat.
She paused the video.
Closed the laptop.
Threw it across the bed.
Curled into herself.
The sobs shook her entire body.
She cried for minutes. Then hours.
She cried until her throat burned.
Until her head throbbed.
Until every breath felt like knives.
Eventually…
She opened the laptop again.
She replayed the video.
And cried again.
Replay.
Replay.
Replay.
The tears kept falling.
Faster.
Harder.
Hotter.
She pressed her forehead against the screen.
Replay.
Her cries became hoarse.
Her heart shattered again and again.
Replay.
Her tears soaked through her sleeves.
Replay.
And with each replay…
something inside her broke, but something else hardened.
Replay.
Her breathing slowed.
Replay.
Her tears stopped.
Replay.
Her face went blank.
Replay.
She didn’t feel anything anymore.
Silence wrapped around her like a cold blanket.
She watched the worst moment of her life…
over and over…
until her body couldn’t cry anymore.
Until she was numb.
Totally, terrifyingly numb.
By the time she closed the laptop, the sun had set. Her room was dark. Her eyes were dry.
The USB drive sat glowing faintly in the dark.
The truth was no longer hidden.
And now…
it lived inside her fully.
But the numbness that followed…
That was more frightening than the pain.
- Writer
