ᴇᴄʜᴏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ

Chapter 11: Silent Storms

Izu's POV

It had been two days. Two whole days of silence. Not a single word from Sarah.

Every morning, I woke up hoping things would be different. That she'd call or text, maybe even come over and apologize. But each day, my phone stayed silent. She was always so good at making me feel secure, making me laugh, making me feel like we were unbreakable.

But now? We were like two strangers in the same universe.

It wasn't just the silence that hurt. It was the fact that we were both pretending like nothing had happened—both of us carrying on with college, going to classes, and hanging out with friends without so much as a glance at each other.

It felt like someone had taken away the one piece that made everything else fit.

I sat down in the cafeteria, hoping to drown out my thoughts with a sandwich. But as soon as I saw Sarah walk in with Aysh and Riy, my stomach twisted into a knot. She didn't look at me. She didn't even glance my way.

I tried to focus on my food, but my eyes kept darting toward her. The way she laughed with them, her carefree smile—like nothing had changed. But I could feel it. The distance, the tension. It was suffocating.

"You're staring again."

I snapped out of it, turning to see Nya plopping down next to me with her tray. "I wasn't staring."

"Uh-huh, sure," Nya said, raising an eyebrow. "You've been doing this for the past two days, Izu."

I huffed, stabbing at my sandwich with more aggression than necessary. "She's acting like everything's fine."

"And you're not?"

I glared at Nya, but she just gave me a pointed look. "I'm not. I feel like... like she doesn't even care."

"Look, I don't know what happened between you two," Nya said, leaning back in her chair. "But pretending nothing's wrong won't fix it."

"I know that," I muttered, shoving the sandwich aside. "But she's not even talking to me."

Nya rolled her eyes. "Maybe she's waiting for you to talk first. You can't expect her to do all the work, Izu."

I hated that she was right. But the thought of being the one to apologize, the one to reach out—it felt too hard. It felt like admitting I was the problem.

"What if... What if she doesn't want to fix it?" I asked, my voice smaller than I intended.

Nya paused, her expression softening. "She does. Trust me. She just doesn't know how to get through to you right now."

I looked over at Sarah again, her laughter echoing in the cafeteria. It felt so distant, like she was already moving on, and I was still stuck in this place of confusion and hurt.

Aysh's POV

Sitting across from Sarah at lunch, I could feel the weight of the tension between her and Izu hanging in the air. It was suffocating, and even though she was laughing with Riy and me, I knew she wasn't okay.

"So..." I started, trying to be casual. "You and Izu still not talking?"

Sarah's smile faded for a second before she forced it back. "There's nothing to talk about."

Riy raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "Yeah, sure. You two were joined at the hip, and now you're acting like she doesn't exist?"

"Exactly," I chimed in. "We know something happened, Sarah. You can't just keep bottling it up."

Sarah glanced at us, clearly uncomfortable. "It's not like that. We just... need space."

"Space or silence?" I pressed, leaning forward. "There's a difference."

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know, Aysh. She doesn't trust me. And I'm tired of trying to prove that she can."

"Maybe she's just scared," Riy offered. "You two are close. When something like this happens, it's normal to feel... off."

Sarah clenched her jaw, her eyes hardening. "I shouldn't have to constantly prove myself. I've given her everything, and it's still not enough."

I wanted to argue, to tell her that it wasn't true—that Izu just needed time. But Sarah was stubborn. And when she was upset, getting through to her was like trying to break through a wall of ice.

"Just don't shut her out completely," I said softly. "You two have been through too much to let this be the end."

Sarah didn't respond. She just stared down at her food, her thoughts clearly somewhere else.

Later that day – Jenna's POV

By the time I caught up with Izu after our last class, she was already halfway out the door, clearly trying to avoid everyone. But I wasn't about to let her keep running from this.

"Hey, wait up!" I called, jogging to catch her.

She stopped but didn't turn around. "What is it, Jenna?"

I sighed, falling into step beside her. "You and Sarah. What's going on?"

Izu's face tightened, her eyes darkening. "Nothing."

"Don't give me that," I said, crossing my arms. "You've been miserable for days, and she's not any better. If you two keep going like this, it's going to ruin everything."

Izu bit her lip, looking away. "It's already ruined."

"No, it's not," I insisted. "You guys need to talk."

She laughed bitterly. "Talk? She's the one who walked away."

"Because she's hurt too," I said, placing a hand on her arm. "But I know Sarah. She's not over it. She's just scared of what'll happen if you two don't fix this."

Izu's shoulders slumped, the weight of everything finally crashing down on her. "I don't know how to fix it."

"Start by talking," I said softly. "Before it's too late."

She looked at me, her eyes filled with doubt. "What if talking doesn't fix it?"

I smiled, giving her a reassuring nudge. "It will. You guys are stronger than this. You've been through worse, right?"

Izu didn't respond, but I could see her mind working. I could see the walls she'd built around herself starting to crack.

Back to Sarah's POV

That evening, I sat in my room, staring at my phone. Every part of me wanted to text Izu, to tell her I was sorry for how I'd handled everything. But the other part of me—the part that was still hurt and frustrated—held me back.

My thoughts were interrupted when a notification popped up on my screen.

Izu: Can we talk?

My heart skipped a beat. This was it. The moment we either fixed everything or fell apart for good.

I stared at the message, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. What was I supposed to say? Did I even know how to fix this?

Finally, I typed back a single word.

Me: Okay.