Rose was gone from the school, leaving only her laughter echoing faintly in the halls and her place beside Yuri suddenly empty. Bella tried to adjust, but it felt strange the quiet that followed her friend's departure was heavier than usual.
Then one day, everything changed in a moment too fast to catch. Rose needed to reach Leo, her phone wasn't with her, and she couldn't tell Yuri about it. Somehow, the call came to Bella.
"Bella… can you give him a message?" Rose asked, her voice quick and anxious.
Bella froze. The situation didn't make sense immediately. Why was she the one involved? Why now? But before she could think, the truth struck her: Leo and Rose were… together. They had been keeping it a secret, quietly, carefully.
Her heart twisted. She had always liked Leo. She had noticed the way he smiled, the way he seemed different around her in subtle ways. And yet now, she was caught in the middle of their secret, knowing something she shouldn't, carrying a burden that wasn't hers to bear.
The next part was instinct. To protect both of them, Bella acted quickly. When whispers started .... "Leo and Bella?" .... she didn't correct them. She let the world believe it was her and Leo. She smiled, she laughed, she carried the blame, while inside, her chest ached.
Palm noticed first. Then Yuri. The teasing started, the accusations, the judgment. "You're acting like you're so perfect," they said. "And yet you're so… fake." Bella heard it all, smiled through it all, and said nothing. She couldn't betray Rose or Leo, no matter how much it hurt.
Every day became a balancing act. She carried the knowledge of their love, hid her own feelings for Leo, and endured the whispers that branded her a bad friend, a girl who smiled while others suffered. Yet even through it all, part of her heart quietly ached for him, longing for a moment that belonged only to her, a chance to be seen as more than the one who protected secrets.
It was exhausting. It was lonely. And it was just the beginning.