Chapter6: Broken vows mended hearts

The bitter morning air wrapped  around  Anna like an unrelenting vice as she woke to the sound of the school bell ringing through the  dimly lit dormitory. The  thin blanket barely held in any warmth, and her breath  rose heavily as she sat up. Around her, the other  girls stirred rubbing their cold stiffened hands together before shuffling from their hard mattresses.Anna  had barely  gotten used to the cold stone floors beneath her feet, and this particular  morning was the worst of all. The water in the communal basin had frozen overnight, Leaving  the girls to splash their faces with whatever droplets remain unfrozen.

Teeth chattering, Anna scrubbed her face and pulled her rough, tattered uniform over her thin frame. The  uniform, once a deep shade of blue, had faded over time  to a dull grayish one, the fabric worn thin in places. She ran her fingers through  her tangled  hair, tying it into a loose braid before stepping into the freezing hallway where other girls were already shuffling towards the dining hall. The  dining  hall was scarcely warmer than the dormitory.  There was long, wooden tables  stretched across the vast room, the wood brought dust as a result of old years of use. She stepped into the dining hall, the overwhelming scent  of  boiled oats filled her nostrils. The meal, if it could  be called that,was a thin porridge  with little substance, it's  watery consistency doing little to warm the worms in her stomach.The  meal was the same as the day before, a thin watery porridge  poured into small wooden  bowls. She forced herself  to swallow  it as she observed the  other girls. Some squatted over their  bowls, their eyes hollow with quiet resignation. Others stared at the  teachers, as if hoping for something better. Miss Sharon's sharp voice  was filled  in the thin air. “Hurry up. You're  wasting time”.

Anna swallowed  the last spoonful and followed the line of students out of the dining hall and into the Classroom, her fingers very stiff from  cold. The  classroom  was not better than the dormitory . It's walls were bare, save for a large blackboard at the front, and the only source of light came from the narrow windows that let in a dull,grayish  glow. The wooden desks were old  and faded,  covered in ink stains and deep grooves where frustrated students  had carved their initials. Miss Shalom stood at the front of the room,her eyes sweeping over the class.Anna  barely had time to open her notebook before the lesson started, and before she looked up, She noticed  Olivia siting across from her. The girls  posture was straight, her hands resting lightly on the desk, her expression calm despite  the cooling air. Her hair was neatly  braided even though her uniform was just as worn as everyone else's, She carried herself  with an air of quiet dignity.  Miss Shalom entered the  room with a sharp sound of her heels.  She stared at the class  like someone  who was deeply curious, her eyes staring at Olivia for a couple  of minutes before she  began the  Lesson. As the lesson continued, Anna's  mind was filled  with new information , and though she struggled  to  keep up, She found herself fascinated until She noticed Miss Shalom's eyes narrowing at Olivia.  “ Olivia  Sarah”. Miss Shalom's voice cut through the air.  “ What is the answer to the equation  on the board?”. Without  hesitation, Olivia  recited the answer in a steady,unwavering  voice. Miss Shalom  stared at her and pursed her lips. “ Wrong”. A mixture of  confusion ran through  the Classroom. Anna frowned, Olivia had been right. 

“ I…I thought ..”Olivia  began, but before she could  finish, Miss Shalom’s  ruler struck down upon her desk with a sharp crack. “You  thought?” Miss Shalom  mocked her . “If you had spent less time lost in your  foolish day dreams and more time focusing,you wouldn't be  such a failure”.

The  class fell silent. Olivia lowered her gaze,but her face remained impressive. Anna bit her nails. How could  Olivia endure this humiliation without  saying a word? Before she could  dwell on it further . Miss Shalom  brought  out a pair of cane, striking Oliva  across the neck with a bunch  of Cane.The  sound  echoed everywhere. Anna  sucked in a breath,expecting Olivia  to cry out. But Olivia  remained still, her eyes clear as sunrise and her face unreadable.  She didn't  move an inch or cry.Anna  became angry within her.  Why doesn't She fight back? She thought to herself. The lesson  continued as if nothing happened, but Anna's  thoughts were elsewhere. Oliva's silent endurance  haunted her , stirring something deep within her that she couldn't  yet define.    That following evening,as the girls huddled near the dimly brightening fire in the common room, Anna found  Olivia sitting near the flames with a book resting on her laps.She  hesitated  for a moment before stepping  closer, lowering herself onto the cold stone floor beside her.

“Why didn't you resist?” Anna asked, her voice  low. “ Miss Shalom has no right to do that”. Olivia turned to her,her eyes calm and almost peaceful. “What would  resisting have changed?”. Anna frowned. “It would have shown her that She can't just do whatever She wants to do with you”. Olivia smiled a comforting smile.”Strength isn't  always about  fighting back”. Anna looked at her in a surprised  look. “So you are  just supposed to let people take advantage of  you, even when you don't  deserve it?” “ I  forgive them”, Olivia said calmly. Anna stared at her. “ Forgive them? She shook her head in disbelief. “ After everything  they have done? You don't  mean it”. Olivia  nodded. “ Well,I have faith in  something greater than this world. In a life beyond  this one. What they do to me here doesn't  matter  in the end”. Anna's  chest tightened. “That's  ridiculous”.

“ Is it?” Olivia's eyes were gentle  but firm.”Holding on to hatred only burdens you, not them. You will not have peace of mind”. Anna kept quiet. She thought of miss Regina, of John, their  wicked attitude, their dismissiveness. The anger she carried towards them was a fire that never went out. Could  She ever let it go? “I don't  think I can do that,”. Anna admitted after some minutes of silence. “You  will be happier if you try,”Olivia said. “ Hatred only hurts  the one who carries it”. Anna  didn't  respond. She didn't  know how to.

The following morning arrived with an even crueler bit of cold, as if winter had crept closer overnight and  sunk its claws deeper into the walls of the school. The basin water was frozen as usual, forcing the girls to wash their best as they could with damp rags. Breakfast  was as miserable  as before, and the long hours of  studying seemed worthless.The  dining hall was silent save  for the occasional clink of metal spoons against wooden bowls. The atmosphere  felt heavy,almost suffocating, weighed down by the unspoken exhaustion of girls who had longed stopped dreaming of anything beyond survival. Anna stared at Olivia  has she ate  in slow, measured spoonfuls, unhurried, unbothered. Unlike  the  Others,Olivia  did not shrink under  the  weight of their  bleak reality. She remained  composed,untouched by the despair that settled into the bones of so  many orders. 

It was that same composure that seemed to provoke Miss Shalom. That day, Olivia was punished again.

The classroom was unbearably cold, the wind sneaking in through the cracks in the wooden walls, seeping into their bones. Anna curled her fingers, trying to keep them from going numb as she scribbled notes in her book.

“Olivia Sarah,” Miss Shalom’s sharp voice sliced through the quiet. “Bring me your assignment.”

Olivia rose and carried her notebook to the front. Anna knew for a fact that Olivia had spent the entire night working under the dim light of a single candle, ensuring every answer was correct. But she had been given less time than the others—Anna had noticed that, too.

Miss Shalom barely looked at the pages before she spoke. “This is unacceptable.”

A murmur ran through the class. Olivia’s work was never incorrect.

“I—” Olivia started, but before she could defend herself, the teacher struck her across the back with the thin rod she always kept at her desk.

The crack of the blow sent a chill through Anna’s spine. It wasn’t loud, but it carried weight.

Anna expected Olivia to  react.  To cry out. To at least show some sign of pain. But she didn’t. She stood firm, her hands steady at her sides, her expression unreadable.

The silence in the classroom stretched. The other students looked down, unwilling to meet Olivia’s gaze, unwilling to acknowledge the injustice of it all.

Miss Shalom delivered two more blows, each one landing with sharp precision. Still, Olivia did not react. When it was over, she simply nodded and walked back to her seat, as if nothing had happened.

Anna clenched her fists. How could she just take it? How could she let them treat her like this?

It didn’t make sense.

That night, Anna lay awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Olivia’s words from the previous evening echoed in her mind. I forgive them.

Anna didn’t understand it. And a part of her didn’t want to.

But she couldn’t deny that Olivia’s strength, whatever it was made her think.

And thinking was something Anna wasn’t sure she was ready to do.

As the days passed, Anna found herself watching Olivia more closely. It wasn’t just curiosity anymore. It was something deeper—something that gnawed at her, demanding to be understood.

At first, she had assumed Olivia was weak. That her silence, her acceptance of mistreatment, was cowardice. But the more she observed, the more she realized Olivia was anything but weak.

She carried herself with a quiet dignity that no punishment could break. She never complained. Never spoke ill of Miss Shalom or any of the other teachers who sought to humiliate her. And yet, there was no submission in her demeanor. She did not cower. She did not shrink. She simply endured, as if their cruelty could not touch her.

Anna had never met anyone like her.

One evening, as the girls huddled near the small fireplace in the common room, Anna sat beside Olivia once more.

“I still don’t understand,” she admitted, her voice low. “How can you just accept it?”

Olivia glanced at her with a small, knowing smile. “I don’t see it the way you do, Anna.”

Anna frowned. “How else is there to see it? She enjoys hurting you.”

Olivia nodded slightly, as if she had already considered this. “Perhaps she does. But her actions don’t define me. I choose how I see the world.”

Anna scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. You can’t just pretend like it doesn’t hurt.”

“I don’t pretend.” Olivia’s gaze was steady. “I just refuse to let it control me.”

Anna let out a frustrated breath. “Then what, you just let people walk all over you?”

Olivia shook her head. “No. I choose to forgive them.”

Anna stared at her. “Forgive them?”

“Yes.” Olivia’s voice was calm, unwavering. “Because holding on to hatred only hurts me, not them.”

Anna didn’t know how to respond. She thought of Mrs. Regina. Of John. Of the anger she had carried for so long, like a fire that never burned out. She had always believed that anger was her shield, her weapon against the world that had wronged her.

But Olivia… Olivia didn’t need a shield.

Anna wasn’t sure whether she envied or resented her for that.

“I don’t think I can do that,” she admitted after a long pause.

“You don’t have to,” Olivia said gently. “Not yet. But you should think about what will truly set you free.”

The words lingered in Anna’s mind long after the fire had burned down to embers.

And for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t entirely sure she had all the answers.