ᴇᴄʜᴏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ

Chapter 11: Cracks Beneath the Surface

Izu's POV

The second day of college should have been better than the first. Sarah and I had gotten past the awkwardness of the morning, and everything seemed perfect for a moment. But, just as things were starting to feel normal, everything blew up.

It all started in the hallway between classes. I was waiting for Sarah when I saw her talking to someone—Natasha again. But this time, it wasn't just a quick chat or some light banter. They were deep in conversation, and it looked serious.

I walked up to them, my curiosity piqued. As I got closer, I overheard Natasha saying something about "getting together later" and "keeping it between them." The words hit me like a punch to the gut. What were they planning, and why hadn't Sarah mentioned anything to me?

I couldn't stop myself. "What's going on?"

Sarah glanced over at me, her expression unreadable. "Hey, Izu. We were just... talking."

"About what?" I pressed, crossing my arms.

Natasha shot Sarah a quick look before excusing herself, leaving me and Sarah standing there in an awkward silence.

"We were just discussing... some plans for later," Sarah said, her voice hesitant.

"Plans? With her?" I couldn't help the bitterness that seeped into my voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Sarah frowned. "It's not a big deal, Izu. We're just hanging out. Why are you making this an issue?"

"Because you're keeping it from me," I shot back, feeling my chest tighten. "We're supposed to be close, but you're out here making plans with her behind my back?"

Sarah let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples. "Izu, not everything has to include you! I'm allowed to have other friends."

The words stung. It wasn't just about Natasha—it was the fact that Sarah hadn't even mentioned it to me. "That's not the point, Sarah. It feels like you're hiding things. If it's just hanging out, why couldn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this!" Sarah snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. "You're overreacting and making a scene over something so small."

"Overreacting?" My voice rose despite myself. "You're the one hiding things! Maybe if you were honest from the start, I wouldn't be 'overreacting.'"

Sarah's jaw clenched, her frustration boiling over. "God, Izu! You always do this. You always think the worst of me, like I'm going behind your back or something."

"I just don't like being left in the dark, Sarah. It feels like you're pushing me away."

"Maybe you're pushing yourself away with all this jealousy!" Sarah's voice was harsh now, cutting through the hallway. "You don't trust me. You never have."

The words hit harder than I expected, and I recoiled slightly. "That's not true. I do trust you, but—"

"But nothing," she interrupted, her eyes hard. "I can't keep dealing with this, Izu. If you don't trust me enough to let me have my own space, then maybe we shouldn't be friends."

Her words sliced through me like a knife. My throat tightened, and I could feel the tears threatening to spill over. I wanted to argue, to tell her she was wrong, but the truth was, maybe she was right. Maybe I wasn't handling things the way I should have. But still...

"I don't want to lose you, Sarah," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Sarah's expression softened for a split second, but then her walls came back up. "Then stop acting like you're going to."

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence between us was suffocating, the weight of everything left unsaid pressing down on me. I wanted to reach out, to fix it, but I didn't know how. And judging by the look on Sarah's face, she didn't either.

Without another word, Sarah turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the hallway, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces.

Time skip to later that day

Aysh's POV

Something was definitely wrong. I noticed it the moment Sarah walked into the cafeteria without Izu by her side. Normally, those two were always with eachother now that they finally started to leave whatever happened with them in the past and Sarah normally waits for Izu for her class to be over nowadays, but today... nothing. Sarah sat down with us, but her usual playful banter was missing. She looked tired, frustrated, and worst of all—angry.

"Where's Izu?" I asked, glancing around.

Sarah shrugged, barely looking up from her phone. "I don't know. Ask her."

Her tone was cold, way too cold. Jenna shot me a look, her eyes widening in surprise. "Whoa, what's going on between you two?"

"Nothing," Sarah said flatly, but the tightness in her voice said otherwise.

Before I could push her for more, Izu walked in, her face pale, and her eyes puffy like she had been crying. She spotted us but didn't come over. Instead, she grabbed her food and sat at a different table—a completely different table, alone.

This was bad. Like, really bad.

I exchanged a look with Nya, who seemed just as shocked as the rest of us. Izu and Sarah never fought like this. Sure, they had their moments, but this? This was different. Whatever had happened, it was serious.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Nya said, standing up.

"No, let me," I interrupted, grabbing her arm. "I know how to handle this."

She nodded reluctantly, and I made my way over to Izu. When I got closer, I could see how upset she really was—her eyes were red and glassy, like she had been holding back tears all day.

"Hey," I said softly, sliding into the seat across from her. "What's going on?"

Izu didn't look up. She just stared at her food, poking at it with her fork. "I don't want to talk about it."

I sighed. "Come on, Izu. You and Sarah are acting like strangers. Did something happen?"

Izu finally looked up, and her voice cracked as she spoke. "She thinks I don't trust her. And... maybe she's right."

My heart sank. "What do you mean?"

"I got jealous. She was spending time with Natasha, and I... I overreacted. I said things I didn't mean, and now..." She trailed off, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Now she doesn't want to be friends with me."

I reached out, placing my hand on hers. "I'm sure that's not true, Izu. You two just need to talk it out."

"We already did. And it didn't help." Her voice was small, broken. "She walked away."

I didn't know what to say. This was way worse than I thought. If Sarah had walked away, it meant she was seriously upset. And that wasn't something that happened often.

"We'll figure it out," I said softly, even though I wasn't sure how. "We'll talk to her. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."

Izu gave me a small, sad smile, but I could see the doubt in her eyes.

Back to Sarah's POV

I walked down the empty hallway, replaying the fight over and over in my head. I hated how things ended with Izu. It wasn't supposed to go like that. But the words just spilled out, and now I didn't know how to fix it.

Maybe Aysh was right. Maybe we both needed time to cool off.

But as I walked away from everything—the fight, the misunderstanding, the pain—I couldn't help but wonder if I had pushed Izu too far this time...