chapter 12
260 Words
He said he was sorry.
That it wasn’t meant to go the way it did.
That he should’ve told me the card and flower weren’t his.
And somehow, I believed him.
Not because the pain disappeared. But because the apology felt real like he knew he had played with something fragile and was trying to piece it back together.
We met in the sickbay.We laughed.
About nonsense.
About nothing.
And in that nothing, something healed.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it was something.
Then came exam season long nights, stiff backs, overcrowded reading spaces, and the air filled with whispered panic.
I tried.
I pushed.
I read like I had something to prove maybe to Tunde, maybe to Tomi, maybe to myself.
And when the results came out, I saw my name.
3rd position.
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
I wasn’t the smartest.
The class was full of brains fast thinkers, loud talkers, kids who seemed born to impress.
But I got third.
Me. The girl who had spent the first half of the term crying in silence and pretending not to care.
The girl who had nearly drowned in grief and drama.
That day, I smiled from somewhere deep.
Not for Tunde.
Not for attention.
Just for me.
Me and tomi settled
The strange anger she once carried dissolved into silence.
No more snide remarks.
No more side-eyes.
She didn’t say sorry.
But her peace was loud enough.
And me?
I didn’t need loud love or loud apologies anymore.
I was learning how to sit with myself.
And be proud.
- Writer
