Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 50 - THE PHOENIX DESTROYS, NOT SAVES

Matt. He had just stepped behind me, probably on his way to get water. The tray wobbled in my hands as I crashed into him.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, instinctive.

I didn’t answer. He looked at me. Not shocked, just… concerned. That Matt kind of concern. Straight-backed. Quiet. I stared past him.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I walked away without responding. Let them wonder. Let them all guess. None of them had the right answer.

Next class. History.

The fluorescent lights buzzed like flies overhead. The room smelled like old paper and whiteboard ink. The air was dry, stiff with air-conditioning and too many unspoken things. Mr. Hsu’s voice droned in the front, rattling off a lecture about the Philippine rebellion against Spanish colonizers. He had diagrams on the screen. Labeled timelines. Color-coded resistance groups. I slouched into my seat and kicked my boots up onto the desk. Leather scraped against metal. The chair creaked as I leaned back, arms crossed.

“Betty,” Inez whispered beside me. “Can you not?”

I didn’t move. I didn’t blink.

Mr. Hsu paused, then cleared his throat. “Miss Finn. Feet off the desk, please.”

I said nothing. Just blinked at him, slow and dry-eyed.

He tried again. “This is a classroom, not your living room. Kindly sit properly.”

I sat up, but only to lean forward, elbows on the desk. My voice came out flat. “Why do we even have to study this crap if nothing ever changes?”

Mr. Hsu looked taken aback. “Excuse me?”

I kept going. “You talk about the rebellion like it’s some noble, romantic thing. But they lost, didn’t they? They just got replaced by another set of chains. Americans. Japanese. And now we romanticize that too. Great.”

“History is important so we learn from it...”

“No one’s learning,” I snapped, louder now. “We keep repeating the same things, and you want us to memorize dates and names like it means something.”

“Miss Finn,” he said sharply, “you’re welcome to share your thoughts, but not like this.”

I stood up. Chair screeched back again. “Then maybe I’ll share them somewhere else.”

He called after me, but the door was already swinging shut behind me. The hallway felt colder than the classroom. Empty, humming with that high-pitched school silence. I walked with no destination in mind.

Let them chase after me. Let them report me. Let them write me down as another problem. Whatever. I heard the hurried steps behind me echo down the corridor.

“Betty... wait!” Inez’s voice. I didn’t stop.

Her fingers reached for my arm.

“Don’t touch me!!!” I shouted. It came out sharper than I meant. A blade across the hallway.

She froze. Her hand jerked back like I burned her. Her eyes widened, not hurt, not yet, just stunned. Like I’d spoken in a language she forgot how to understand. She stepped back once. Twice. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Then she turned and ran.

Her shoes made soft slaps on the tiled floor. Fading.

“Inez…” My voice was smaller now. “W-wait. I didn’t mean to…”

But she was already gone. The hallway swallowed her whole. Silence again. Except for the buzzing lights above. The faint sound of someone’s laughter three doors down. My hands were shaking, but I didn’t feel them. I stared at the empty stretch where she used to be.