The school didn't feel like a place anymore.
It felt like something that watched how people moved inside it.
Kelvin noticed it first in the smallest detail—how conversations ended a little too quickly when Keira passed, how teachers skipped her name like it was safer that way.
And now… how Laura wasn't looking at him the same anymore.
Laura
She stood near the notice board, pretending to read something that had clearly not changed since morning.
But her eyes weren't on the paper.
They were on Keira.
Keira was across the courtyard, sitting alone again.
Not because she wanted to be.
Because people had started choosing distance around her.
Laura's fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
A message she had already typed but hadn't sent yet:
He's getting too close to her.
She stared at it for a long time.
Then deleted it.
Not because it was wrong.
But because it sounded like jealousy.
And she didn't want to admit that word yet.
Not even to herself.
Kelvin
"Why are you looking at her like that?"
Laura's voice came from behind him.
Kelvin didn't turn immediately.
Because he already knew what she meant.
He just didn't like how often she was noticing it.
"I'm not looking at her any special way," he said.
Laura stepped beside him.
"You are."
Silence.
Then she added softer:
"You always do that now."
Kelvin finally turned. "Do what?"
Laura hesitated.
Like she regretted stepping too far into honesty.
"…like she's the only thing in the room."
That line landed heavier than she intended.
Kelvin looked away.
Because it was true.
And he didn't know when it became true.
Keira
She felt it again.
That pressure behind her thoughts.
Not pain.
Not confusion.
Something else.
Like her mind was trying to split a door open from the inside.
She pressed her fingers to her temple.
"Aisha…"
The name slipped out without permission.
She froze immediately.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"No…" she whispered.
But her reflection in the glass didn't agree with her.
For a second—
Just a second—
Her reflection smiled first.
Not her.
Across the courtyard
Kelvin noticed her reaction instantly.
He moved without thinking.
Laura grabbed his wrist.
"Don't."
Kelvin looked at her. "She's not okay."
Laura's grip tightened.
"That's exactly why you shouldn't go."
Kelvin frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Laura's voice lowered.
"You being near her is making it worse."
Kelvin pulled his arm free. "That's not true."
But Laura didn't move.
And for the first time, her voice wasn't just caution.
It was something sharper.
"Kelvin… I don't think she stays the same when you're around."
That made him stop.
Not because he agreed.
But because something in her tone felt too certain.
Keira & Kelvin
He reached her before she could leave.
Keira looked up slowly.
And for a moment, her expression softened.
Like she recognized him before she even saw him properly.
"You're here again," she said quietly.
Kelvin sat beside her, not too close.
"I needed to check on you."
Keira gave a faint, tired smile.
"Or maybe you just can't stay away."
He didn't deny it.
That silence said more than words.
Keira looked down at her hands.
"They feel strange," she said.
"Your hands?"
"My thoughts," she corrected softly. "They don't feel like they belong to me all the time."
Kelvin studied her carefully.
"Do you remember anything from before this school?"
Keira hesitated.
A long pause.
Then—
"I remember a name," she said.
Kelvin's heart tightened slightly.
"What name?"
Her lips parted.
And for a second, something inside her resisted.
Like saying it would break something open.
Then she whispered:
"Aisha."
The air between them shifted instantly.
Kelvin didn't speak.
Because this wasn't just a name anymore.
It was becoming a presence.
Laura (watching)
From across the courtyard, Laura saw everything.
Keira leaning slightly toward Kelvin.
Kelvin not moving away.
And that name.
Aisha.
Laura's expression tightened.
So it's starting again…
Her fingers curled around her phone.
This time, she didn't delete the message.
She edited it.
Her memory is fragmenting again. He is the trigger.
She hesitated.
Then sent it.
Not to Kelvin.
To someone else.
Someone who had never replied before.
Keira
Her breathing changed suddenly.
"I shouldn't have said that," she whispered.
Kelvin leaned slightly forward. "Why?"
Keira shook her head.
"I feel like something heard me."
Kelvin frowned. "Who?"
Keira didn't answer immediately.
Because she didn't know.
But somewhere deep inside her—
Something was listening.
Something that had been waiting for her to say it out loud.
Final moment
Laura watched Kelvin and Keira sitting together.
And for the first time…
her suspicion stopped looking like suspicion.
It started looking like fear.
Because one thought wouldn't leave her mind:
If Keira becomes Aisha completely…
…will Kelvin still be able to see her?
Or will he lose him to a memory that was never supposed to return?