Rafa's POV:
I should've been happy.
That's what everyone kept saying.
"You're literally living the dream."
"You won."
"You're famous."
"You're everything people want to be."
And for a while?
I believed it.
The followers.
The views.
The comments.
The constant attention.
It felt good.
No—
It felt amazing.
But lately…
It didn't feel like me anymore.
It started small.
I'd open TikTok—
And hesitate.
Not because I didn't know what to post.
But because…
I didn't want to.
"Rafa, are you posting today?" Angela asked, sitting next to me.
"I don't know," I said.
She frowned slightly. "You always know."
"…yeah."
That was the problem.
I used to post because it was fun.
Because I wanted to.
Because it felt natural.
Now?
It felt like—
Expectation.
Pressure.
Like if I stopped—
Everything would disappear.
"Hey."
I looked up.
Felix.
Of course.
"You're quiet," he said.
"I can be quiet."
"Not like this."
I exhaled.
"…do you ever feel like something doesn't feel right anymore?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"Yeah."
I looked at him.
"…what do you do?"
He shrugged slightly.
"Stop doing it."
Simple.
Too simple.
"…just like that?"
"Yeah."
"That's not easy."
"No," he said. "But it's clear."
Silence.
"…I don't think this feels like me anymore," I admitted.
He didn't look surprised.
"I know."
"…you knew??"
"You've been different."
I looked away.
"…I thought I was just overthinking."
"You weren't."
Another pause.
"…what if I lose everything?" I asked quietly.
Felix looked at me.
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because it's not the account."
My heart softened slightly.
"…then what is it?"
He didn't hesitate.
"You."
I didn't know what to say.
Because for once—
I believed him.
That night—
I sat on my bed.
Phone in my hands.
TikTok open.
My profile staring back at me.
12.5M followers.
Videos.
Memories.
Moments.
Everything.
I scrolled.
Old videos.
The first ones.
Messy.
Random.
Me laughing at nothing.
Talking too much.
Being weird.
Being…
Me.
I smiled.
Because that version of me?
Didn't care.
Didn't think.
Didn't perform.
She just—
Was.
And somewhere along the way—
I lost that.
Not completely.
But enough.
My finger hovered over the settings.
"Delete account."
My heart started racing.
"…okay."
Deep breath.
"…okay."
I pressed it.
Confirmation screen.
"Are you sure?"
I stared at it.
12.5 million people.
Gone.
Just like that.
And yet—
For the first time in a while—
I felt calm.
"…yeah."
I tapped confirm.
And just like that—
It was gone.
The next day—
Chaos.
"YOU DID WHAT???"
"I deleted it," I said.
Angela looked like she was about to faint.
"RAFA."
"I know."
"12 MILLION."
"I KNOW."
CJ was pacing. "This is the biggest plot twist of the century."
Sam just stared at me.
"…are you okay?"
"…yeah."
And for once?
I really meant it.
"I just… didn't feel like me anymore," I said.
Silence.
Then—
Angela sighed.
"…okay."
I blinked. "Okay?"
"If it makes you feel better, then okay."
My chest tightened slightly.
"…thank you."
CJ pointed at me. "You better not disappear though."
"I won't."
"You're still chaotic."
"Always."
"Good."
"Rafa."
I turned.
Freya.
Oh.
Right.
She walked toward me slowly.
Not confident like before.
Not loud.
Different.
"…hi," she said.
"…hi."
Awkward.
Very awkward.
"I heard what you did," she said.
"…yeah."
"That was… bold."
I shrugged. "I guess."
Silence.
Then—
"I wanted to ask you something."
I crossed my arms slightly.
"Okay."
She hesitated.
Then—
"Do you want to start over?"
I blinked.
"…what?"
"Like… be friends," she said. "No drama. No anything."
For a second—
I didn't say anything.
Because this?
Was unexpected.
Freya.
The same Freya who tried to humiliate me.
Who started everything.
Standing here—
Asking that.
"…why?" I asked.
She looked down slightly.
"Because I was wrong."
Silence.
"I thought I had to be… like that," she continued. "But I didn't."
I watched her carefully.
"You didn't deserve any of it."
Another pause.
"…and I know saying sorry doesn't fix it."
It didn't.
But still.
She tried.
And for a second—
I considered it.
Starting over.
No tension.
No past.
But then—
I remembered everything.
And more importantly—
I remembered who I was now.
"…no."
Her head lifted slightly.
"…no?"
I shook my head.
"I'm not mad anymore," I said. "But I'm not interested in being friends."
Silence.
"I moved on," I added.
She nodded slowly.
"…that's fair."
No argument.
No attitude.
Just acceptance.
And then—
She smiled slightly.
"Good luck, Rafa."
"…you too."
And just like that—
She walked away.
And this time?
It didn't feel like unfinished business.
It felt like closure.
Later—
We were all sitting together again.
Same group.
Same energy.
But different.
Lighter.
"You know," CJ said, "you really just deleted your entire empire."
"Yeah."
"No regrets?"
I thought about it.
Then smiled.
"…none."
Angela leaned on my shoulder.
"Main character move."
"Always."
Felix glanced at me.
"You're smiling again."
"I usually do."
"Not like this."
"…yeah."
Because this time—
It wasn't for anyone else.
It wasn't for views.
It wasn't for attention.
It was just—
Real.
And somehow—
That felt better than everything.
Because maybe—
This wasn't the end.
Maybe it was just—
A new beginning.
It was quiter.
Not just around me--
But inside me.
For the first time in months…
My phone wasn't buzzing every second.
No notifications.
No pressure to check anything.
Just—
Silence.
And I didn't hate it.
"Okay," CJ said, breaking the moment, "but what do we actually do now?"
I looked at him.
"…what do you mean?"
"You don't have TikTok anymore," he said. "So what's your personality now?"
I gasped. "I have a personality outside of TikTok."
"Debatable," Angela muttered.
"Wow."
Sam chuckled. "You'll survive."
"I will thrive," I corrected.
Keagan nodded. "That sounds more accurate."
I smiled.
Because weirdly?
It did feel like that.
Like I wasn't losing something—
I was gaining space.
Room to just exist.
"Wait," Angela said suddenly. "Does this mean no more chaotic videos??"
I paused dramatically.
"…no promises."
CJ pointed at me. "SEE—she can't quit."
"I didn't say I quit chaos," I said. "I just quit posting it."
"Tragic," he said.
"Inspiring," Angela corrected.
"Confusing," Sam added.
"Accurate," Keagan finished.
I laughed.
God—
I missed this.
Not the people.
They were always here.
But this feeling.
Being present.
Not thinking about angles, lighting, captions, timing—
Just being in the moment.
"Hey."
I turned.
Felix.
Again.
Always.
"You disappeared," he said.
"I was sitting right there."
"Mentally."
"…oh."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You okay?"
I nodded.
"…yeah."
A small pause.
Then—
"…better than okay."
He watched me for a second.
Then—
That soft smile.
Not the smirk.
Something quieter.
"Good."
And for some reason—
That felt bigger than everything else today.
After school—
We didn't rush home.
No one had anywhere urgent to be.
No videos to film.
No content to plan.
So we stayed.
Outside.
Sitting on the steps.
Talking.
Laughing.
"Remember when Rafa went viral for the first time?" CJ said.
"I try not to," I replied.
"You were so confused," Angela laughed.
"I was confused."
"You still are," Sam added.
"That's part of my charm."
Felix glanced at me.
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Debatable."
"Wow."
He smirked.
There it is.
"Wait," Angela said. "Remember Freya's face when her plan failed??"
"Oh my god," CJ said. "That was priceless."
I shook my head, laughing.
"That feels like so long ago."
"But it wasn't," Sam said.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "…it wasn't."
So much happened.
So fast.
And now?
Everything felt…
Slower.
In a good way.
The sun was starting to set.
Golden light hitting everything.
For a moment—
No one talked.
Just—
Sat there.
"…this is nice," Angela said softly.
"Yeah," I agreed.
"No chaos," Sam added.
"Speak for yourself," CJ said.
"Of course."
I smiled.
And then—
Without thinking—
I pulled out my phone.
Everyone noticed immediately.
"OLD HABITS," CJ shouted.
"Relax," I said. "I'm not posting."
"Then what are you doing?"
I paused.
"…taking a picture."
They blinked.
"…just a picture?" Angela asked.
"Yeah."
"No video?"
"No."
"No caption?"
"No."
"No posting?"
"…no."
Silence.
"…growth," Sam said.
"I hate all of you."
They laughed.
I held up my phone.
"Okay—everyone look here."
They leaned in.
Angela smiling.
CJ making a weird face.
Sam calm.
Keagan nodding for no reason.
Felix—
Looking at me.
Not the camera.
Me.
"Felix," I said. "Camera."
He didn't move.
"…nah."
"Seriously."
"Take it."
I rolled my eyes—
But smiled.
And snapped the picture.
I looked at it after.
And froze for a second.
Because it wasn't perfect.
CJ's face was still weird.
Angela blinked slightly.
Sam wasn't fully looking.
But—
It felt real.
Messy.
Natural.
Us.
"…I like it," I said quietly.
"Let me see," Angela said, leaning in.
She smiled.
"…yeah."
"Don't post it," CJ said immediately.
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
"For once," Sam added.
"Okay relax," I said.
I locked my phone.
And didn't feel the urge to open it again.
As it got darker—
People started leaving.
"See you tomorrow," Sam said.
"Later," Keagan added.
"Don't do anything too chaotic without me," CJ said.
"No promises."
Angela hugged me.
"Proud of you," she whispered.
My chest tightened slightly.
"…thanks."
"Always."
And then—
It was just me.
And—
"Of course you're still here," I said.
Felix.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
He shrugged.
"I don't have anywhere else to be."
I looked at him.
"…same."
Silence.
Comfortable this time.
Not heavy.
Just…
Easy.
"You really deleted it," he said after a moment.
"I did."
"No backup?"
"Nope."
"No second account?"
"No."
He nodded slowly.
"…bold."
"I know."
"Scary?"
"A little."
"But?"
I smiled slightly.
"…worth it."
He watched me.
Then—
That soft look again.
"Yeah."
Another pause.
"…what now?" I asked.
"Now?"
"Yeah. No TikTok. No chaos posting. No—everything."
He thought for a second.
Then—
"Now you just… live."
Simple.
Again.
I exhaled.
"…that sounds nice."
"It is."
I looked up at the sky.
Darker now.
Stars starting to show.
And for the first time in a long time—
I didn't feel like I had to capture it.
Or share it.
Or turn it into something.
I could just—
Be there.
"…hey," I said.
"What?"
"…thanks."
"For what?"
I shrugged slightly.
"…for staying."
He smirked.
"Wasn't planning on leaving."
I smiled.
Of course he wasn't.
And maybe—
That was enough.
No followers.
No numbers.
No pressure.
Just—
Moments.
Real ones.
And maybe…
That was the kind of thing worth keeping.
Even if no one else saw it.