Something was different about Kelly.
It wasn't the way she dressed — though even that had changed. She used to wear safe colors, soft tones. Now she wore bold yellows, deep greens. Like someone who had finally realized the world was watching.
And they were.
Watching her.
Not me.
That realization came slowly, in pieces I didn't want to pick up.
First it was whispers in the hall.
"Kelly's poem gave me chills."
"She was actually so confident during practice."
"Have you seen her Instagram lately?"
Kelly.
Not "Christabel's friend."
Just... Kelly.
---
I used to be the one they noticed first. Not because I asked for it. Not because I tried. It just… happened. Fair skin. Hazel eyes. Wavy hair that people liked to run their hands through like I was some kind of walking painting.
I never had to fight to be seen.
Now, I wasn't sure anyone was looking.
---
She sat across the classroom now — near the window, where the light hit her just right. I watched her sometimes when I thought no one else would notice. Head down, lips curled slightly as she scribbled something into her notebook.
She smiled differently now. Not like she needed approval.
Like she already had it.
From others.
From herself.
From Dami.
---
That one stung the most.
He used to wait for me after classes. Now he leaned against Kelly's locker, asking about books he never cared about before. I caught them laughing once, and it felt like a sound that didn't belong to me anymore.
Maybe it never did.
---
So I cornered her after school. Not angrily. Just… needing answers.
"You're doing the debate?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
She looked at me like she already knew what I was thinking.
"Yeah," she said. "Mr. Adesina picked me."
I blinked. "He usually picks me."
"I guess people are finally noticing," she replied — steady, confident, almost soft.
But every syllable burned like acid.
I stood there, trying to hold on to a version of us that didn't exist anymore.
She didn't look back when she walked away.
---
That night, I stared at my reflection and felt like I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. The curls were still there. The hazel eyes. The porcelain skin.
But they weren't enough anymore.
Not to compete.
Not to keep her close.
Not to stay important.
Kelly used to be the shadow beside me.
Now… I'm the one disappearing.
---