Children are better at noticing changes than adults, and as we grow older, we lose this ability. But she was an exception.

She possessed a childlike quality without being childish. This set her apart from others in every lifetime. While everyone else tried to be strict or at least mature, she loved to chatter like a four-year-old. She despised food that wasn't "sweet enough" and refused to eat certain things unless they were loaded with sugar. A lot of sugar. If any of us followed her diet for just one day, we'd likely end up with some strange disease.

That morning, we met at the school entrance. She loved calling out to people and running towards them, and that's exactly what she did.

"AAAAAAKKKKIIIIII!"

In no time, I found myself under her 168 cm frame as she tackled me to the ground.

"Oh God, Shu, how many times do I have to tell you not to run like that? You'll hurt yourself eventually."

She got to her feet.

"Do I look like I care about getting hurt?"

"... No."

"Exactly."

"Where do you even find all this energy?"

"I don't know, I just feel like screaming."

"It's unbelievable how childish you are, yet you manage straight A's."

"First of all, I'm not childish, I'm childlike. There's a difference. And secondly, it's not my fault I'm a complete genius, is it?"

"Yeah, right... A completely insane genius."

"Oh, please, you're just jealous."

"Yeah, ye-"

"OMG, is that Silvia!? Aki, let's go say hi! Quick!" she said, grabbing my hand.

"SIIIILVIAAAAAAAA!"

She was indeed a genius. Our school offered a special accelerated course that allowed students to complete high school in four years instead of the usual five, a rarity in Italy. She was in that program but rarely cracked open a book. Despite this, she outperformed everyone else, even those who studied tirelessly. Her classmates couldn't help but notice.

"Why don't you study? You already get amazing grades, the kind we can only achieve after weeks of studying. You'd be a top student if you put in the same effort."

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"Studying annoys me, so I won't. Period."

She wasn't on good terms with her classmates, largely because she saw them as "two-faced, fake bitches who mess around and then blame others." She wasn't wrong — her observations were even noted by the teachers. What set her apart was her inability to keep quiet; she always spoke her mind, unlike the rest.

“Aki”

“mhm?”

“Do you think it is my fault if people don’t like me?”

“No. You just speak your mind and everyone has weak ego, so they feel scared when you destroy the small self confidence they have”

“Do you think so?”

“Yea. I do think so”

Honestly, Shu had changed a bit in this life. She followed her emotions more and sometimes ended up getting hurt by people, although she always bounced back in a few days. When we first met, I asked her what had happened with Sophia this time. I was investigating whether the person who hurt her was always the same across lifetimes, and I suspected it was again in this life.

"Oh well... It's kinda complicated, and it's partly, or mostly, my fault too. You see, Sophia and I used to be best friends. We had a group chat with two other girls; I honestly don't remember their names. One always sided with my 'dear' best friend no matter what, and the other rarely texted or was around. Sophia had a crush on this guy named Ryo, who is currently my friend. She used to talk about him A LOT. Eventually, I found his Instagram profile and followed him. He messaged me, asking if we went to the same school, and we started talking. Initially, my only intention was to help him and Sophia become friends. I swear, that was all. But as you can probably guess, my feelings got the better of me, and well, I started loving him, and he loved me too. That's when Sophia and I began arguing. She became toxic and said things like, 'He fell in love with you just because you copy my personality’ even though I made them friends, so technically, he should have loved her first, right? Well, we began arguing, and arguing, and whenever something happened, I would leave our group chats, only to be added back later to see Sophia and her sidekick wishing me death. Slowly, I became very depressed, and only the other friend understood and helped me. I told her the whole story — how I felt left out and how, when I tried to express this, they accused me of playing the victim. That's when she told me they were toxic, while I thought it was all my fault. I started distancing myself, and Sophia began saying she felt left out of my world, even though she was the first to leave me out. One day, no actually, one night, I told her how I felt and then I left. That's how it ended.”

"But you two attend the same school, right?"

"Yeah, and she can't get off my back. Every time I'm alone with someone, she comes over, talks to that person, and leaves me by myself. Even Gabriele noticed, and he didn't know we had argued."

"Gabriele?"

"Yeah, he's in the 2^I class. We went on a selected trip together. Sophia was there too."

"What happened?"

"She offered a cookie to Gabriele and ignored me, even though I was right there. Or when Gabriele and I were talking alone, she'd come over and start talking to him, completely ignoring me. Gabriele himself said that Sophia doesn't even say hi to him in the mornings when they see each other at school."

"She's childish."

"She is, and honestly, I want my tears back."

“You know, I’m always here if you need it”

“Yes, I know.”

So far, all I can say is that Sophia meets Shu in every lifetime and hurts her in the same ways. Yes, Shu made mistakes, but she always apologized, unlike Sophia, who didn’t care at all. I've gathered a lot of information about Sophia over time. She's talented but doesn't use her talent as she should. She's usually quiet but becomes loud when she wants to show off how happy she is. Her loud laugh makes me want to tear my ears apart. Most importantly, she's the fakest person I've ever known. She shows everyone a face that isn't hers. I know this not only because of what happened with Shu, my dearest, but because I experienced it too. In some lifetimes, I got closer to Sophia just to understand how fake she was. It takes months to uncover her true self, but it is possible, and I wish no one has to deal with someone like her.

Sophia often won awards at our school, or across lifetimes, but only because she liked to show off. In contrast, Shu, who had far more talent, lived in the shadows.

If there's something that repeats itself the same in every lifetime I've been it is that

In the end, in every lifetime, only those who weren't truly worthy received recognition.