EPISODE 18{TRUTH OVER TALK}

Rumors spread fast, but truth… truth is patient.

Tope and I stopped explaining ourselves. We stopped responding to the whispers and smirks. Instead, we focused on what mattered — our goals, our growth, and the quiet strength in silence.

She joined the quiz team. I signed up for extra lessons in physics.

We started spending more time in the library than under that old mango tree.

People noticed — again. But this time, the gossip faded into silence. Because when your work starts speaking for you, the noise stops mattering.

One day, during literature class, the teacher asked a tough question about the theme of betrayal in a poem we hadn't fully covered. Everyone went quiet.

Tope raised her hand.

Her answer was clear, deep, and confident. Even the teacher paused, impressed.

And just as the class started clapping, someone at the back muttered, "Well, of course she knows. She's got connections now."

Tope turned around, calm as ever, and said, "No. What I have is a library card, a brain, and the discipline to use them."

The room went still.

That was the moment everything shifted.

From then on, people started approaching her differently — with respect. Not because of me, not because of what they thought we had, but because of what she proved on her own.

Later that evening, as we sat by the edge of the field watching the sun dip below the school fence, I asked her, "How do you always stay so calm?"

She smiled. "Because truth over talk wins. Every time."

And I believed her.

Because she wasn't just saying it — she was living it.