The sterile scent of antiseptic clung to the air in the school infirmary. The lights were dimmed low, but even that felt too bright to John.
He sat on the infirmary bed, a bandage now pressed gently against the bruised spot on his cheek. It stung with every movement of his jaw, but not nearly as much as the storm churning in his chest.
The nurse had done what she could and treated him quietly, gently and then told him to rest.
He sat on the bed and his fists sat limp at his sides, his eyes on the tiled floor.
Then he heard a gentle creak of the door break the silence in the room and Ivan walked in, cautiously.
Ivan: Yo.
John didn't look at him.
Ivan let the door close behind him and walked to the chair beside the bed. He slumped down, elbows on his knees.
Ivan: (softly) Just came to check if you're okay.
John chuckled dryly, without humor.
John: Yeah... I'm fine...
Ivan didn't smile at that one. Not when there wasn't any reason to.
There was a moment of silence. Then—
Ivan: You know… for what it's worth, I think you did the right thing.
John turned to him slowly, unsure if he'd heard him right.
Ivan: I mean it. You stood up for your girlfriend. You stood up for yourself. You didn't deserve that punch, but what happened after… that's not on you.
He sighed, his tone low.
Ivan: You tried talking to Rachel and tried to make it easier by trying to talk in private, but she didn't listen. What happened out there… that's on her.
John still said nothing.
He just let the silence hang between them.
Then quietly—
Ivan: I guess I have some fault in the way things turned out too.
John looked over, confused.
John: Huh? What are you talking about?
Ivan: I knew the exact moment Joseph started hating you. Or at least I think I do.
John raised an eyebrow and then a specific memory replayed in his head.
John: It was when I told you guys I rejected Rachel's confession, right?
His voice was distant & heavy & Ivan nodded in agreement to his earlier statement causing John to sigh deeply and look at the ground below him.
Ivan: Back then… I didn't think it mattered. Confession and rejections happen all the time and I noticed how he always acted up when the topic was brought in. But I assumed he'd forget about it since it had nothing to do with him. But after today…
Ivan sighed and continued.
Ivan: Another reason is that he was in love with Rachel.
John raised his head up at the mention of this as it caught him off guard.
John: For real?
Ivan nodded his head.
John: Damn…
John scratched his head, frustrated.
John: (bitter laugh) How the hell did I miss that?
Ivan: Joseph probably hated seeing you get a girl like Rachel to like you… and then just throw it away. Like you were spitting on something he would've killed for.
He shook his head.
Ivan: (quietly) He thought your reason for rejecting Rachel was bullshit.
At that moment John briefly recalled when Joseph had brought up this topic at the start of the year and he remembered his response to it and seeing how things still turned out in the end began to annoy him.
John: I made the right choice, man! I didn't like her that way and I didn't want to pretend or lie to her that I did. So why the hell does everything feel like it's crashing down?!
His voice cracked with frustration and his fingers clenched into fists on the sheets.
Ivan leaned back, looking up at the ceiling for a second, then exhaled.
Ivan: You wanna know something? I always figured you were going through something. With how your face and body language was before. But...
He glanced at John, his voice quieter now.
Ivan: I didn't know it was this bad. I didn't know it was… like that. And I'm sorry.
John raised an eyebrow.
John: For what?
Ivan: I should've been the kind of best friend you could talk to about this, I should've been more reliable. But I guess I wasn't. Otherwise maybe things wouldn't be like this.
John finally looked at him.
John: Don't ever say that again.
Ivan blinked.
John: You are my best friend. You've always been. The reason I didn't talk about this wasn't because of you. It was because of the decision I made to not tell you.
His eyes were raw, but resolute.
John: It's just that how do you try to explain this to someone and have them relate to something they haven't experienced or a feeling they can't understand? That's what I usually feel when the idea of trying to tell anyone else comes to me.
Ivan said nothing and just sighed because this conversation could go on forever and they wouldn't be able to find the answer they'd both be satisfied with.
*****
The door to the teachers' staff room creaked open.
Rachel stepped out slowly, her head low, eyes red, cheeks damp from earlier scolding and internal guilt eating away at her.
The hallway was quiet, eerily quiet. Most students had been sent back to class since the lunch break ended a few minutes ago, but the tension still lingered in the air like smoke after a fire.
Then she saw her.
Leanne stood at the far end of the corridor, arms crossed tightly across her chest, face unreadable.
Rachel froze mid-step.
Their eyes met.
And then—
SLAP.
Leanne's hand came across her cheek with a clean, painful snap that echoed down the corridor.
Rachel stumbled a step back, stunned from the weight behind it.
Her hand touched her face in disbelief as tears welled up again, fresh and fast.
Leanne: (voice trembling) Why… Why would you do something like that?
Her voice was one filled with hurt and confusion and utter heartbreak.
Leanne: You bullied someone you don't even know. Someone who's done nothing to you.
Rachel's lips quivered. Her mouth opened, then closed.
And then it all broke.
The guilt, the shame, the confusion, it shattered inside her like glass.
Rachel: (choking) I don't… I don't know what came over me…
She shook her head violently, tears spilling freely now.
Rachel: (sobbing) I just… I was angry… I hated how she took John away from me and...
She collapsed to her knees.
Rachel: I didn't mean for it to go this far…
She buried her face in her hands, crying harder than she had in years. Her whole body shook.
Leanne didn't move. She just stood there watching her friend fall apart.
She wanted to say something, anything but the words wouldn't come. None of them felt right.
So instead, Leanne stepped forward quietly and just sat down next to her, back against the wall. So Rachel wouldn't have to cry alone.
*******
Meanwhile, Kana sat upright in bed, her hospital gown loose around her frail frame, sunlight bleeding softly through the half-closed blinds. Her phone buzzed quietly on the tray table beside her, lighting up with a steady stream of notifications.
With a cautious breath and after contemplating a few times, she reached for it.
Her thumb hovered above the screen before finally tapping the Twibbler app.
It opened with a familiar splash of pastel colors, leading her straight to her page—@Lonelygirl4556. It was still there.
But something had changed.
The sea of hate, once overwhelming and vicious, was gone.
A message stretched across the top of the screen in soft blue letters:
"Several accounts have been permanently suspended for violating Twibbler's harassment policies."
Kana's breath caught.
A fragile sense of relief unfurled in her chest. The tightness she'd carried for days, an ache she couldn't put into words, began to ease.
She tapped on her most recent post.
There were replies. Hundreds of them. And every single one shimmered with kindness.
"We love you, Lonelygirl."
"Don't let them win."
"You're stronger than you think."
"We're here. Always."
Kana pressed a hand gently to her chest, tears pricking her eyes as a soft smile formed. For the first time in weeks, her heart felt light.
She continued scrolling, each comment like a balm.
More words of encouragement, more strangers reaching out with nothing but warmth.
It felt… safe once again.
Kana: (softly, to herself) Finally… it feels like it's over.
But just as her fingers swiped past the last few comments, she returned to her feed and froze.
There, at the top of her timeline, was a post with a video attached to it.
One that made her breath catch in her throat.