Ahaan’s eyes never leave the door as if he is expecting more people to walk in at any second.

  "Well, we could ask the same from you. Why were you hiding?", Ave fires back instantly.

  We don't realise that the question has already been asked. Ahaan and I look at each other in astonishment. There’s a flicker of anger on his face, edged with surprise.

  “All the students have already left, so I didn’t want to get noticed” Isabella says it while her eyes trace over us from head to toe. It passes over me without a flicker of recognition. There is no confusion on her face. Just a sharp, assessing interest, like we’re the intruders and she holds the advantage.

  Ahaan takes a step forward and pulls Ave back. "Let's go, we should not talk. She will forget about us in some time."

  I am astonished. This behaviour reminds me of how he was the first time we met. He surely keeps his distance. The fewer people involved, the better.

  He slightly tilts his head toward the door, silently urging me to follow him.

  Isabella isn’t letting it go either. She quickens her pace and suddenly steps right in front of Ahaan. He stumbles and then freezes.

  Isabella leans slightly, examining his hand.

  "What do you have in your hand? It looks like a torn paper. You stole it from some teacher's file. Isn’t it? Is it your future job certificate?"

  “It’s not that,” Ahaan says, stepping past her.

  “And we should go.” He grips Ave’s hands and heads towards the door.

  “Not so fast. What’s the rush?” she says, cutting him off.

  “First, tell me who you all are?", She steps in front of him and blocks his way.

  “But isn't she your friend?”, Ave’s gaze shifts to me.

  "Isabella, what are you doing here?", Ave asks her.

  "Don't call her by name.", Ahaan tugs Ave backwards.

  Ave cocks his head at him, confusion written all over his face.

  "How do you know my name?"

  "Come on, we have met before during the class event where all the class presidents gathered. I came to help Tristan, remember?"

  "Who is Tristan?"

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Ave slowly steps back in bewilderment.

  I step forward to steady him. He looks like he’s about to faint.

  “Hey, pull yourself together. Her words don’t mean anything. Don’t let them get to you,” Ahaan says, trying to calm him.

  Then he takes Ave’s hand and moves to leave.

  "And who are you to belittle me?", Isabella raises her voice.

  I jump between them and raise my hand to stop her.

  She barely glances at me before brushing me off with a sharp flick of her hand.

  "Are you trying to trick me into thinking that I know you so that you can get away?", she frowns.

  "You can stop now. It is not your place to talk like this.", I reach out to silence her, fearing the sound of her voice will echo down the corridor and lead everyone straight to us.

  She pauses to look at me and then the torn paper.

  The slight glance at the torn paper puts me into emotional distress.

  "How can she even speak that much?", Ahaan mutters to himself.

  I move past her and rejoin Ahaan. We start walking again, trying to leave.

  But Isabella steps in once more, blocking our way.

  "Izzy, stop it now. Your class register is here, take it and go back to the class this instant.", I bark the words at her, my voice sharp with command.

  She looks at me blankly then lowers her head.

  She takes it, and leaves, eyes downcast in obedience

  Ahaan lifts his thumb toward me in quiet approval.

  But when I turn, Ave stands there, broken in a way that isn’t loud, but is painfully visible.

  "Come on, she doesn't even remember me, her best friend. How can you expect her to remember someone from a distant past? It's not important how many people remember, what's important is who remembers till the very end." I take Ave’s hand, and together we finally step out of the teachers’ room.

  We slip quietly through the corridors and out of the school.

  The air outside feels different.

  Lighter.

  The sun is captured by the clouds and the cool breeze takes over the hot wind.

  It’s been just one day inside that building, yet it feels like time has stretched into centuries.

  We move quickly behind the trees, half running, half trying not to make a sound. For a few minutes, we use the trunks as cover, keeping low as we go. Then we step out onto the road and head toward the bridge.

  After we are sure of our safety, Ahaan stretches out the paper and asks if any of us knows the way to the restaurant.

  The answer is no from both of us.

  Just as I thought. We don’t know any other way except our usual one. For me, that’s the road from school to home.

  We’ve always been like this.

  "It is of no use. We cannot waste our time thinking when we are not going to remember anything. Let's move and see. Maybe the road will remind us of something.", I say it and step onto the road. The two of them follow without question.

  As we move for some time, we see a car crashed into a tree. We instinctively run and hide behind the bushes nearby. Two police officers stand near the wreck and an ambulance is parked beside them, its back doors open. Paramedics wheel out a stretcher. A body lies on it covered in a white cloth, possibly dead. As they move, a hand drops lifelessly into view from beneath the cloth. I don’t need to take a second glance to know whose hand it is.

  We hide, watching all of it from a distance.

  My whole world shakes and shatters apart. It is my fault, I am late. I should not have left her alone that night. I should have remembered her earlier. I ... The words break apart before they can fully form.

  I lurch forward, but they grab me and hold me back.

  My mind fills with letters, scattered and spinning, but they refuse to arrange themselves into anything coherent.

  I see it all. But I can’t run to her. I can't touch her. I want to shake her awake, to tell her to get up, to tell her I’m here but it is all gone. I am alone. To think, that now I will have to live on my own, that she will no longer be there, this thought alone is killing me.

  And then everything turns black. After that, I remember nothing.