The weight of Shadow(part-5)

Episode 5: The Hidden Pages

The silence had settled into their home like dust — invisible but suffocating. It had been three weeks since Mira's phone was taken away. Three weeks since the boarding school threat. Three weeks of cold dinners, quiet sighs, and colder stares passed across the dining table. Elara tried to focus on her studies, but her mind was elsewhere — on Mira's sudden silence, on her strange late-night whispers, on the way she'd been guarding her school bag like it held her soul.

One evening, as Elara searched the bottom shelf of the cupboard for her old notes, she found Mira's bag tossed carelessly over her textbooks. While pulling it aside, something slipped out — a crumpled pink envelope, faintly scented with perfume. Her heart slowed. It was addressed in Mira's handwriting: "To Callum."

Elara hesitated, but the temptation of truth was stronger. She opened it. Inside, she found a letter that pulsed with emotion — Mira's handwriting soft and sweeping, every word soaked in teenage warmth and romantic longing. Mira wrote about missing Callum during the lockdown, how he'd once offered her his jacket during a rainy morning, how his laughter echoed in her mind. Elara blinked. A crush? Mira had never spoken of this boy — not once. And then she found a second note — not from Mira, but from someone else. A classmate, perhaps. The handwriting was harsh and bitter: "Everyone knows what you're doing. If your mother finds out, good luck staying here."

Something inside Elara tightened. This wasn't just a schoolgirl crush. This was gossip, maybe bullying. Maybe worse.

That night, Elara confronted Mira in their room. "You like someone?" she asked quietly. Mira tensed immediately. "You went through my bag?" she snapped. Elara didn't back down. "You're getting threats, Mira. What's going on?" Mira rolled her eyes and turned away. "It's nothing. Just stupid school stuff. You wouldn't understand." But Elara's voice trembled. "You're being harassed and hiding it? Are you serious?"

Mira snapped. "You don't get it! Every time I try to have something that's mine, you ruin it! First my phone, now my feelings. I like someone — so what? I'm not doing drugs. I'm not failing. I just… liked someone."

"And now people are threatening you? What if Mom hears it from someone else?" Elara's tone rose in panic. "She won't," Mira muttered, but her voice cracked. "Unless you tell her. And you will. You always do."

And Elara… did.

The next morning, she told their mother. Not to punish Mira, but to protect her — from rumors, from secrets, from spiraling further into something dangerous. But this time, their mother didn't respond with calm. She exploded.

"What is all this nonsense, Mira?" she shouted, holding the letter in her hands like it was poison. "A love letter? A boy named Callum? Threats from classmates? Are you even going to school to study anymore?"

Mira stood frozen. "It's not like that—"

"Oh really?" her mother snapped. "Then you won't mind if I come to school and speak to your teachers. Maybe I'll ask your principal what's really going on in front of your whole class. Should I?"

"No!" Mira's voice cracked. "Please don't. That'll make everything worse!"

"I'll pack your bag right now. Let's see what this boy Callum thinks when your parents show up and tell the whole world what you've been writing behind their back," her mother continued, throwing open Mira's wardrobe and grabbing clothes without care.

Mira rushed to block her. "Stop it! Please! You don't understand anything!"

"You've been lying to me, Mira. You've broken every rule in this house. Do you think you're old enough to fall in love but too young to face the consequences?"

Tears filled Mira's eyes, but she didn't cry. She turned slowly, her gaze landing on Elara. Her voice dropped, low and cold. "You told her."

"I was scared for you," Elara said softly.

"No. You were just waiting. Waiting for the perfect chance to be the hero again." Mira's voice shook now with fury. "You can't stand it when I have anything that's mine. You want to fix me — but I was never broken."

Elara opened her mouth, but no words came out. The truth was… she didn't know anymore. Was it really fear that drove her to tell? Or was it control, disguised as concern?

That night, their room felt smaller than ever. Mira sat silently by the window, her head against the glass, arms crossed tightly. Elara sat on her bed, gripping her textbook like it could erase the tension. No one spoke. They didn't even look at each other. But something between them had shifted again — and this time, the break felt deeper.

---

🖤 Author's Note:

Some heartbreak doesn't arrive loudly.

It slips in through cracked trust and quiet betrayals.

This wasn't just about a boy.

It was about a girl who wanted to be free to feel…

and another girl who wanted to keep her safe, even if it meant burning that freedom down.

Elara didn't mean to betray Mira.

And Mira didn't mean to spiral.

But in trying to protect, we sometimes destroy.

And in trying to love, we sometimes lose.

If you've ever done the right thing and still ended up the villain…

If you've ever hidden feelings because you feared they'd be punished…

Then maybe you, too, have lived inside a shadow like theirs.

By-Aarya Patil