Soon, Aria and Sona climbed down from the cardboard boxes, and the moment their feet touched the street, a crowd of young people turned toward them.
From the way they greeted Sona—with respect, excitement, and a kind of warm loyalty—Aria instantly understood something:
The silly, lazy Sona of KHSS… was not the Sona of this place.
Here, Sona was loud, confident, loved, and clearly a leader.
Aria was shocked. And curious.
She had never seen this side of her best friend.
Within minutes, the introductions began. Everyone knew each other by heart, and somehow, they already knew Aria too.
They spoke about her like she was a character from a story Sona had told them a hundred times.
Aria blended with them like pixels falling into place.
Then the dancers performed their iconic introduction dance—the dance they dreamed of one day performing on a real stage. Aria watched in awe as Sona stepped into the formation.
For the first time, Aria saw how extremely talented Sona truly was.
Not just good—powerful.
Graceful.
A real performer.
She had her own team.
Her own world.
A tiny world, yes, but filled with passion so strong it made Aria's chest warm.
Aria felt genuinely happy—happy that Sona trusted her enough to bring her into this personal universe. And without even realizing it, Aria was already famous here, famous through the stories Sona had told about her. They loved her before meeting her.
As Aria talked to them, she learned something surprising.
There used to be many more dancers in this club—dozens.
But rich ones left for better studios.
And the poor ones…
the ones like Sona and her group…
were abandoned here, left behind in this forgotten corner of the city.
Yet this abandoned street was once a heaven of talent.
Many of today's celebrities had danced here once, on this very road.
This realization shocked Aria.
The luxurious lives of influencers and celebrities…
even they had once danced in the dust, practiced on broken pavements, fought for their dreams in places like this.
And standing here, among these bright-eyed dreamers, Aria finally understood:
Big dreams don't always start in big places.
Sometimes, they start on old streets, under dim lights, with people who refuse to give up
Aria and Sona finally left the street. Behind them, the young dancers continued their practice under the dim lights.
On the way, Sona suddenly reminded Aria,
"Hey! You owe me ice cream. Today. Tonight itself."
Aria sighed because she knew one universal truth:
when it came to food, Sona never compromised.
And Aria never won against food-Sona.
"Fine," Aria agreed.
But Sona wasn't done.
"And also, I want the ice cream from Taj Ice Cream. Everyone says it's the tastiest. But I've never tried it."
Aria's eyes widened.
"You? You never ate from that shop?"
Sona nodded proudly, like she had avoided it intentionally.
Aria laughed and said,
"Okay then. Today we're eating from there."
But when they reached the shop, they stood frozen.
It was closed.
Board removed.
Lights off.
A man sitting nearby told them,
"That shop moved… to the front of GHSS."
Sona's head snapped toward Aria instantly—
eyes wide, hysterical.
Aria looked back with a slow, mischievous smile.
"Today or never?" she teased.
Sona slapped her own forehead.
"No, no, no. That's going to create sooo many problems. And I know exactly why you're suddenly so interested. Didn't you forget him? Sinas. Until now you didn't even take his name. I thought you finally forgot him."
Aria didn't answer.
Because she didn't know the answer herself.
For days—no, weeks—she hadn't thought about Sinas at all.
Her crush of six whole years.
Her dream school, GHSS.
Her old fantasy of seeing him, talking to him, living near him.
All of it… blank.
Instead, her mind was full of:
the bet with Zorvath,
the madness of KHSS,
the fun, the drama,
and the happiness with her new friends.
At first, she only wanted to run away from KHSS.
But now… she wanted to win.
To rise.
To make KHSS better.
To stay.
And that scared her.
Did I really forget my dream of six years… in just one month?
Am I changing too fast?
Is this good? Bad? Or something else entirely?
Aria questioned herself silently as she and Sona walked into the dark road leading toward GHSS.
Aria's eyes were fixed on the huge, fantasy-like, luxurious school standing far across the road.
It wasn't actually far… just a few hundred meters away.
Close enough to touch her old dreams.
Close enough to disturb her heart.
But Sona?
Sona's eyes were focused on only one thing—
the glowing Taj Ice Cream shop right in front of her, only a few meters away.
The difference between them was almost funny.
They stepped inside the shop, the cool air brushing against them.
But Aria's mind wasn't inside the shop at all.
It wasn't with the flavours, or Sona, or even the menu.
Her mind was drifting…
somewhere between GHSS
and
KHSS.
She glanced sideways.
Sona was dramatically studying the ice cream flavours like her life depended on it.
Aria watched her and wondered silently:
Will a day come when I have to choose?
Choose between my true friends… and GHSS… and Sinas?
If that day comes… what will I do?
She didn't know the answer.
She didn't even know which side she leaned toward now.
And that uncertainty…
that not knowing…
it disturbed her more than she wanted to admit.
Standing in a tiny ice cream shop
with the huge GHSS glowing from a distance,
Aria felt like she was standing between two worlds—
one she had dreamed of for years,
and one she had accidentally fallen in love with.
And she had no idea
which world she belonged to anymore.
After placing their order, Sona waited with absolutely no patience.
She kept tapping her foot, staring at the counter like the ice cream would appear if she glared hard enough.
Then she glanced at Aria—
and immediately rolled her eyes.
Aria was still staring outside through the glass, completely lost in her thoughts, her eyes fixed on GHSS.
Sona shook her head and turned her attention to the things displayed inside the shop.
That was when Aria noticed something outside.
The main gate of GHSS slowly opened, and a string of luxurious cars rolled out.
Even at this hour? Are students still practicing? Is there some festival coming up? Aria wondered.
Her eyes moved from car to car—
until one of them struck her sharply.
She had seen that car before.
She leaned closer to the glass and read the number plate:
9999.
A fantasy number.
She had definitely seen it somewhere.
She searched her memory—
Where…? Whose car…?
Then it hit her.
A detail from Sinas' story.
A car she had heard about before.
But… no.
This wasn't his car.
Something didn't match.
Maybe it was one of his friends?
Aria tried to remember, but the details were foggy.
Then the car slowed…
and stopped right in front of the Taj Ice Cream shop.
Sona's eyes followed it.
Her entire face darkened instantly—
as if a light had switched off inside her.
Something was definitely wrong.