Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 54 - THE TRUTH WAS THE ONLY THING BURNING

The air smelled like sweat and old textbooks, a bitter perfume of deadlines and exhaustion. Hell week was suffocating, lockers slammed, papers rustled, teachers’ voices droned, and everywhere, students moved like ghosts caught between hope and dread. Graduation was just around the corner, but it felt less like an ending and more like a pressure cooker about to burst. I caught glimpses of James around school. Sometimes he lingered near the hallways, his gaze tracing me like I was a melody he couldn’t quite reach. Other times, I felt him staring longer, like he wanted to say something but the words got tangled in his throat. His eyes held something, longing, maybe regret but he never crossed that invisible line between watching and approaching. He stayed in the shadows of my world, and I wasn’t sure if that was a mercy or a sentence.

Then Inez’s shrill voice sliced through the dull roar of the hallway. “B! Over here!”

Her hands found mine, twisting with that familiar electric grip. Tim’s laughter followed, loud and warm, and behind them, Drake and Corey appeared like a small, rowdy pack.

I remembered the apology, how I’d bought them pizza and treated them to Jollibee, a peace offering to the boys I’d pushed away with my silence and mood swings. I could still hear Inez’s teasing voice, “Food is the only weakness of boys.”

“Hey, B... still rocking the red hair, huh?” Drake grinned, nodding toward my wild crimson strands.

“That’s her personality now,” Inez added with a sly smile.

A soft warmth spread through me, and I smiled back.

Corey pulled me into a brief hug. “I missed you, B...”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Really. Thank you guys, for not leaving me when I’m too hard to understand sometimes.”

Tim laughed, eyes twinkling. “I like the new Betty. You look... stronger. More sure.”

I shot them a look. “Stop with the melodrama, guys. Let’s get lunch. I’m starving.”

As we moved toward the cafeteria, the noise and chaos became a backdrop to the quiet weight in my chest. I wanted to ask about James, wanted to hear if he was okay or if he thought about me the way I thought about him, but the words stuck to my ribs. Was it shyness? Fear? Or maybe I was just afraid of what I’d hear. So I stayed silent. And let the moment slip by, like a leaf floating on a restless stream.

The cafeteria was buzzing with the frantic energy of a school on the brink of ending. Trays clattered. The scent of fried chicken and sweet spaghetti tangled in the air. Someone’s portable speaker was playing music too loud, but no one seemed to care. It was chaos, but the kind that made you feel alive. We settled into our usual corner, plastic chairs, wobbly table, sunlight pooling through the high windows in soft, honey-colored beams. I picked at my fries while Inez dramatically recounted her oral recitation in History, complete with wild hand gestures and exaggerated impressions of Mr. Hsui. Then I saw her glance shift toward the entrance.

“Oooh. Is that Matt’s girlfriend?” she said, leaning in like a spy caught mid-mission.

I followed her gaze. Matt stood just outside the cafeteria doors, his arm brushing the girl beside him, a tall girl with sharp cheekbones and glossy hair pinned behind her ears.

“Yeah,” I said, voice even. “That’s Kath. He introduced her to me last week.”

“She’s pretty,” Inez said, thoughtful. “Good for him, huh?”

I nodded, ignoring the odd twist in my chest. It wasn’t heartbreak. Not anymore. Just…the quiet ache of moving on, even when part of you still remembers how things used to be.