Chapter Five: The Last Thread

The whispers started by lunch.

Zaniah could feel them — soft at first, like the rustling of leaves.

Then louder.

Sharper.

Shaped into words that cut.

“She really thought he liked her?”

“James just wanted to prove he could pull anyone.”

“Even her.”

Even her.

That’s what everyone was saying now. Like she was some kind of joke. A dare. A pitiful punchline in someone else’s story.

Zaniah knew exactly where it came from.

Stella.

Who else had access to her pain and the cruelty to weaponize it?

Vivian and Susan were the background noise, adding volume. But the dagger had Stella’s fingerprints all over it.

By sixth period, she couldn’t breathe. So she left.

She found James near the science wing, standing by the vending machines with his best friend Aiden.

She hadn’t planned on listening. Hadn’t planned anything. But when she heard her name — said too casually — she froze.

“She’s been avoiding you, huh?” Aiden said.

James gave a dry laugh. “Yeah. Can’t really blame her.”

“Didn’t think you’d actually go through with it.”

“I didn’t either. At first I just… I don’t know. I was pissed about Stella and all the stuff she was saying. I just wanted to prove her wrong.”

Aiden raised a brow. “So you used Zaniah?”

James hesitated. Then said, “I didn’t mean to. I swear. It started out like… yeah, a bet, kind of. I wanted to see if she’d fall for it. But then—”

Zaniah didn’t wait to hear the rest.

Didn’t want to hear the then I caught feelings part.

Didn’t want to hear him try to explain how her humiliation somehow turned into his self-discovery.

She turned.

Walked fast.

Didn’t cry.

Not again.

The next day, she didn’t speak.

Not to anyone. Not in class. Not at lunch. When teachers asked her something, she just nodded or shook her head.

She didn’t look at Stella. Didn’t flinch when Stella laughed too loud in the hallway with her new friends. Didn’t react when James tried to catch her eye across the room.

But by Friday, James stopped trying to be subtle.

He caught her outside the library, his voice low and urgent. “Zaniah. Please.”

She didn’t stop walking.

He followed. “It wasn’t like that. I swear. It started as a joke, okay? But it changed. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I—”

She turned, fast. Her voice came out quieter than she meant it to — but every word was a blade.

“You didn’t mean to? You think that makes it better?”

James opened his mouth. Closed it.

“I was already drowning when you found me,” Zaniah said. “And you smiled like you were a life raft. But you were just another wave. A prettier one.”

He stared at her like he didn’t know how to breathe.

“I don’t care what you felt later,” she said. “You made me into a game. So this? Us? Whatever you think we had? It ends here.”

She walked away.

And this time, she didn’t look back.

After that, Zaniah disappeared without leaving.

She stopped answering group chats. Stopped raising her hand in class. Sat alone at lunch with her headphones in and her eyes down.

She wasn’t sad anymore.

Just empty.

She didn’t trust anyone. Didn’t speak to anyone. Didn’t see anyone.

And no one saw her either.

It was exactly how she wanted it.

The school year dragged on — faces blurred, weeks folded into each other — and Zaniah became a ghost in a building full of noise.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***