chapter-18: Estelle

[ Estelle had always been a solitary figure. Her baby-blue eyes, framed by roundish almond-shaped lenses, often observed the world with a quiet intensity. Black, wavy hair cascaded down her shoulders, a stark contrast to her pale complexion. From kindergarten through her final year of high school, friendships remained elusive. It wasn't for lack of trying; each attempt at conversation ended in awkward silence or polite dismissal.

Despite her academic excellence—teachers' favorite, top of her class—Estelle couldn't bridge the gap between herself and her peers. She wasn't wealthy, but she found joy in tutoring younger students after school. Yet, the camaraderie her classmates shared remained a mystery.

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 she mused, watching a group laugh together. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Her thoughts drifted as she gazed out at the school field. Ciro, the popular boy, was playing football. His ice-blue eyes and blonde balayage hair shimmered under the sun.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮? Estelle thought 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

But it seemed that Estelle's quiet resolve to focus on her future was not something the universe planned to respect.

Her days continued, painted in shades of solitude and self-discipline, until the weight of reality struck too suddenly, too cruelly.

Her mother—her only family, her quiet anchor—fell ill.

And no matter how much Estelle tried to fight against the fear, no matter how much she prayed for more time, the world didn't bend to her wishes.

Not this time.

Her mother passed away.

The house became quiet. Too quiet. The kind of silence that echoed.

Estelle had always been alone in the world, but now… now she was truly on her own.

Her father, a ghost of a man she never met, had been taken before she was even born. And now her mother, the last thread tying her to any sense of warmth, was gone too.

She stood by the window of their small apartment that night, arms folded against herself, watching the city lights blur through her tears.

No one came to comfort her.

No one knew how.

And maybe, Estelle thought, no one ever would.

But still… somehow, she would go on.

Even if she had to walk forward alone.

Estelle sat by the bus window, her gaze fixed on the passing scenery, though she saw none of it. The world outside moved in a blur, mirroring the haze within her. Since her mother's passing, days had melded into one another, each indistinct from the last. The once comforting routine of school and tutoring now felt hollow.

The bus jolted to an abrupt stop, snapping her from her reverie. A boy stumbled slightly, catching himself by gripping the seat beside her.

"Hey, are you okay? I'm really sorry. The bus stopped suddenly, and I lost my balance," he said, concern evident in his voice.

Estelle blinked, her mind slowly registering the present. She turned to face him, recognition dawning.She thought 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘰? 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?

"Estelle! Are you okay? I'm really sorry about earlier," he repeated, his eyes searching hers.

She nodded, attempting a smile. "I'm alright... Totally fine. Nothing happened."

Ciro frowned. "What do you mean—wait, what happened? What are you talking about?"

"No, nothing... It was nothing. I should be going now," she said, gathering her belongings.

As she stood, Ciro gently held her hand. "Wait, this isn't your stop. Where are you going?"

Estelle's heart raced.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦?

Flashback: Unspoken Affection

Ciro had always noticed Estelle. Her quiet demeanor, the way she immersed herself in books, the subtle sadness in her eyes—it all drew him in. Yet, he never found the courage to speak to her.

After the passing of Estelle's mother, Ciro observed a change. She became more withdrawn, her eyes reflecting a deeper sorrow.

Determined to ensure her safety, Ciro began following her from school to home and back, maintaining a distance, always in the shadows.

And that was the moment when Estelle and Ciro truly spoke to each other for the first time.

After that day, their conversations grew slowly, naturally — exchanging small talks at first, then smiles in the hallways, and eventually sitting together during school breaks.

Before she even realized it, Estelle's broken heart had started to mend, simply because Ciro had quietly placed himself by her side.

In time, she began to move forward.

Shortly after, she took on a new student — a small, quiet girl named Ludowici.

Estelle immediately grew fond of her.

Ludowici came from a poor background. She struggled in her studies and found it difficult to connect with her classmates. She was often alone — just like Estelle had once been.

But now, Estelle wasn't alone anymore.

She had Ciro.

She had Ludowici.

After graduating from school, Estelle and Ciro became a couple.

Estelle continued tutoring Ludowici, pouring her heart into teaching.

Day by day, with Ciro's unwavering support and Ludowici's eager efforts, Estelle moved past the sorrows of her old life.

Eventually, Estelle fulfilled her dream and became a primary school teacher.

At first, no one paid attention to her lessons. The classroom often buzzed with noise, with students too restless to listen.

But Estelle never gave up.

Even if the whole world turned away, she would see Ludowici sitting there — always in the first row, always paying attention, soaking in every word.

For Estelle, Ludowici became her hope, her patience, and the living proof that her love for teaching had a place in this world.

Just when Estelle had finally embraced her happy life and married Ciro, fate played its cruel hand.

An unfortunate tragedy struck.

Ciro lost his life in a track accident—saving Estelle from being hit. He had pushed her out of the way in time, but the cost was his own life.

The grief crushed Estelle.

When Ludowici heard about what had happened, she gently proposed they visit a small park beside a lake, hoping to lift Estelle's spirit even if only a little.

They rented a boat and drifted slowly across the water.

But as they rode, a sudden slip made Ludowici tumble into the lake—she couldn't swim.

Without hesitation, Estelle jumped after her, pulling her back to the shore.

Panting and soaked, Estelle noticed something: her precious necklace, the one Ciro had gifted her, was missing from her neck.

Panic gripped her.

Without a second thought, she dove into the lake again, searching desperately.

Finally, her fingers brushed against the necklace resting among the stones. But just as she grabbed it and turned to swim upward, something strange happened—

The water around her changed.

It turned from a lake into a vast, deep, endless blue ocean.

Instead of rising, Estelle felt herself sinking further, deeper into the abyss.

The surface seemed farther and farther away.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦.. 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦

The thought passed through her mind like a quiet whisper.

As she sank, memories began flashing vividly before her closed eyes—

Cooking with Ciro, riding bicycles together, running freely through endless green fields, lying beside each other under warm blankets, sharing laughter and tears—

Every precious, bittersweet memory unfolded like a beautiful, aching film.

She clutched the necklace tightly against her chest, letting the darkness and the memories embrace her as she slowly surrendered to the deep.