It had been three days since the pool incident.
Three days since I watched the same girl who smiled at everyone like a saint push me into the deep end without a flicker of hesitation.
And in those three days, not once did Sophie look guilty.
Whenever our eyes met, she smiled — that soft, perfect smile that fooled everyone. Sometimes she even waved. It got to the point where I started questioning my own memory. Maybe she hadn't meant it. Maybe she didn't even know she did it.
And Elena, she never brought it up either.
The school had moved on. Everyone had.
They said it was an accident.
They said I slipped.
They said Sophie even tried to help me.
I was the only one who knew the truth, but truth didn't seem to matter much in Solaria.
One afternoon the sun was bleeding gold over the campus when I saw her again.
She sat by the fountain during free period, legs crossed gracefully, reading a book. The wind caught her hair and the faint scent of her perfume, expensive, clean, soft, reached me before I did. It smelled like the kind of lie that hid behind angelic smiles.
I stood there for a moment, fists trembling. Every instinct screamed at me to turn around, to stay silent like I always did. But something in me, maybe the leftover burn of humiliation, refused to keep quiet this time.
I took a step forward.
"Hey, Sophie."
She looked up, not even surprised.
"Oh," she said, her tone light, almost musical. "It's you. Do you need something from me?"
Her voice was calm. Too calm.
"I just want to know why you did that," I said quietly without hesitation. "Why you pushed me."
She blinked slowly, as if the question amused her.
"Pushed you? Ayla, that's a terrible thing to say."
"Don't pretend," I whispered. "It's just us here, and we both know the truth."
A faint smirk crossed her lips before fading. The sunlight hit her face in a way that made her look divine, hair glowing, eyes reflecting gold, but the words that followed were anything but holy.
"Yes, I pushed you," she said softly. "And I did it intentionally. You can tell whoever you want."
My throat tightened. "What if I did?"
"You really think anyone would believe you?" she asked, rising to her feet. Her book slipped from her hand and fell to the grass. "You think they'd believe you over me? Or even if they did, do you think I'd be punished because of you? A mere scholarship student?"
The words hit like cold water.
I stayed silent, and that only seemed to entertain her more.
"I just want to know why," I managed to say.
She tilted her head slightly, voice dipping into a mocking whisper.
"Maybe because I find you interesting." She stepped closer, the wind brushing her hair against my cheek. "You came here thinking you could blend in, that Solaria was for everyone. You really thought you could get close to anyone here? Are you so comfortable here that you forget you're not like everyone here? Didn't you know there are some people you shouldn't even dream of being close to?"
My heart hammered painfully. "But I didn't even try getting close to you."
That was when her smile broke, not into guilt, but into something darker.
"Tried getting close to me? You're not even worth it."
I froze.
"Then what's my offense?" I asked, voice cracking.
She turned, already walking away. "Maybe your roommate has the answer to that."
Her heels clicked softly against the stone path as she left.
I stood there for a long time, watching her disappear into the light.
My roommate? Elena?
I repeated the words under my breath. "But she's been good to me lately. I haven't done anything wrong."
The thought gnawed at me all day.
During class, the teacher's voice became a blur.
By nightfall, I still couldn't shake it.
Sophie's voice kept echoing like a curse.
A part of me wanted to go straight to Elena, to ask her if it was true, if she told Sophie to push me, even knowing I couldn't swim. What if no one had been there to pull me out? Would she have cared?
But another part of me already knew it was useless.
Nothing good would come out of it.
So I swallowed my questions, my grief, my anger.
And I prayed, prayed that two years would pass quickly so I could leave this hell disguised as a school.