Monday morning. 8:00 AM. The Greenfield Scholarship deadline is in exactly one hour. Priya slept for three hours. Her phone is on the desk in front of her, screen up. The scholarship board's email portal is open on her laptop. Her application is still submitted. So is Jade's.
it's 8am. one hour left.
i saw that. i'm awake
mia i'm sorry about last night. what i said about reporting the absences
i didn't mean it. i was scared and i was being awful
yeah
you were. but i also know you didn't sleep and jade's voice note really got to you
i didn't report anything. i want you to know that
ok good
i've been sitting here for an hour looking at the board's email contact
i typed a message to them twice. about jade and mr davis and the rules
priya...
deleted it both times
oh thank god
i kept thinking about what jade said. about needing it. not to beat me. just to stay at school
and i kept thinking — if i do this, who am i. you know?
you're the person who deleted it twice 💛
Priya reads Mia's message. Then she opens a different chat — the private one with Jade. Jade has not sent anything new since the voice note at 12:09 AM. The last message is still Priya's one-word reply: "ok." Priya types nothing. Instead, she opens her scholarship application on the portal and takes a screenshot of it.
On the portal, she clicks the red button that says "Withdraw Application". A small warning box appears: "Are you sure? This cannot be undone." She clicks yes. Then she takes a second screenshot — this one of the screen that says "Application withdrawn successfully." She sends it to Jade with no words at all.
The message shows one grey tick. Delivered. Then two grey ticks. Then two blue ticks. Jade has read it. A long silence follows. Priya watches the three dots appear and disappear. Twice. She puts her phone face-up on the desk and tells Mia.
mia. i withdrew my application
you WHAT
i know
priya — okay, i'm not going to pretend i saw this coming because i absolutely did not. but also... i think i understand. like, you worked so hard. this was your thing. and you just... gave it up. for someone you don't even like. that's — that's actually kind of huge. are you okay? like genuinely, are you okay right now?
honestly? yeah. i think i am
i feel weirdly lighter tbh
you're a better person than me lol
i was literally planning to report her absences at midnight so
ok we don't need to mention that again 😭
The morning passes. Priya goes to school. In first period, she sees Jade across the corridor. Jade sees her too. Neither of them stops. But Jade gives one small nod — just barely. Priya nods back. That is all. At 11:15 AM, the Greenfield Scholarship Support group chat buzzes.
mia the scholarship group just got a message
is it the result???
it's a forwarded email. from ms chen. she sent it to the whole group
In the Greenfield Scholarship Support group, Ms Chen has forwarded the official decision email from the scholarship committee. Everyone in the chat can see it. Priya opens it with shaking hands.
jade got it
yeah
you okay??
honestly yes. like i already knew i wasn't in it anymore. so it's not a surprise
i think i'm actually glad she got it
priya sharma. character development 📈
oh shut up 😭
At 11:47 AM, Priya's phone buzzes again. Not the group chat. The private chat. The one she shares only with Jade.
thank you.
One word. From Jade. Priya stares at it for a long moment. Then she types back. This time, two words.
i know.
The chat goes quiet. No three dots. No typing. Just two blue ticks — read at 11:48 AM. Priya puts her phone in her pocket and walks to her next class. In the hallway, she passes Jade. This time, neither of them nods. They don't need to. Something new and quiet exists between them now.