Hermixedmuse

At 18, Zina returns home divorced and unloved. Her father seizes her phone and calls her everything her ex-husband ever accused her of. Her few friends don’t understand her silence. Her family doesn’t either — and the villagers? They whisper her name on market days and cross the street when she walks by. 

Alone in her pain, the only person who stands by her is her mother. 
But when Zina gains admission into university, she sees it as more than freedom — it’s her chance to feel again. To live again. Even if love keeps breaking her open, and healing doesn’t come easy.

Scars Between Semesters

Zina had always trusted too quickly , maybe because she longed for something steady to hold onto. After all the heartbreaks, betrayals, and near misses, she knew better. But Ada made it hard not to believe again.

Ada wasn't just her coursemate, she was the kind of girl who knew everyone, everywhere, loud, confident, always with new hair and new gist, She lived off-campus in a self-contained apartment and often invited Zina over for "girl time." It felt nice to be wanted, to be included and so, against her better judgment, Zina got comfortable, one of those evenings, Ada brought up someone new.

"My fiancé's friend likes you," Ada said, pulling on her long braids and smiling like she held a secret, "He saw your picture on my phone and said, 'Who's this fine girl?' I told him, 'That's my classy babe, Zina.'"

Zina laughed it off, but Ada didn't stop, she brought him up again the next week. Then again and again. Always teasing, always planting the seed, by the time Christmas rolled around, Zina had heard so much about this mysterious guy that he lived in her head like a shadow. So when Ada finally said, "He'll be at the party this evening," Zina agreed to come along.

He wasn't the tallest man in the room, but he had the kind of calm that made everything else slow down. His voice was low, confident, with a hint of something boyish. He wore a crisp shirt and cologne that lingered in the air like a soft promise.

She fell embarrassingly fast and terribly deep.

She couldn't explain it. Maybe it was the way he held eye contact, like he saw through every guarded layer. Maybe it was how he smiled like the world wasn't heavy. All she knew was that she was tired of feeling cold and here was someone who made her feel warm.

For the first time in a long time, Zina let herself hope.

She wanted it to be different this time. She wanted Richard to be the one who wouldn't turn distant after a few weeks, who wouldn't play games or need convincing to stay. Her heart, worn but still alive, leaned in.

Ada noticed the spark instantly, "Aww, look at you two," she teased as they left the party. "Love at first sight, abi? " Zina smiled, her cheeks hot. She didn't want to admit it, but Ada wasn't wrong. She already felt a thousand steps ahead — imagining calls that lasted hours, messages that made her blush, the quiet comfort of being chosen, but life, as always, had other plans.

Because not all smiles mean safety.

And not all beginnings lead to beautiful endings.

Chapter 7: The First Time I Believed Again