The school days all started blending together for Bella not bad, not good, just the same quiet routine she was used to. Yuri and Rose got closer almost without trying, laughing together over inside jokes Bella wasn't part of. She joined in when she could, but most times she ended up hovering at the edge of their little circle, smiling even when she didn't really feel included.
Yuri still cared, Bella knew that. But sometimes Yuri's attention drifted toward Rose so easily that Bella felt like a placeholder. Not forgotten just… less important.
Leo stayed in the background of her life, the same way he always had. Everyone liked him. He was the type who lit up a room without even noticing. Bella kept her distance, mostly because she didn't want trouble. She'd seen how people twisted small things into big stories. She didn't want her name in anyone's mouth.
Still, there were moments tiny ones when Leo walked up to her and asked about homework or joked about something in class. Bella always answered carefully, like she was afraid of stepping on something fragile. And even though she tried to ignore it, her chest sometimes did this small, strange squeeze she pretended not to feel.
Things started shifting quietly, like a room rearranging itself when she wasn't looking. Rose and Yuri got even closer. Yuna wasn't around much, caught up in her own class. Palm, the girl whose family knew Leo's, began whispering things stupid rumors about Bella liking him, waiting for him, hoping for him.
None of it was true, but the rumors spread fast. And people talked. They always talked.
Bella felt the pressure push her toward something she didn't ask for. Toward Leo. Toward feelings she wasn't even sure she had. She hated it. She didn't want anyone controlling her story.
So, when Leo eventually told her he liked her, Bella froze. She didn't know what to say. It didn't feel exciting or romantic it felt scary. She didn't trust the situation, didn't trust Palm, didn't trust how quickly things had turned into something messy.
She started pulling back from everyone a little. Not because she wanted to, but because she didn't know who was being honest and who was watching her like she was part of some game.
And as the week ended, Bella realized something nobody warned her about:
people could twist your feelings just to see what would happen next.
And she was stuck in the middle of it, whether she liked it or not.