META'S POV:
The lingering ghost of Thyme's touch clung to my skin, a bitter perfume of a sin I shouldn't have committed. My fingers, still tingling from the heat of his body, felt alien and wrong. Why did I deepen the betrayal by touching him? This phantom ache, this craving for his warmth and his lips, felt like a sickness spreading through me. What impossible thread connected us, pulling me into a current I couldn't understand? I had planned to face him, to untangle this mess with a clear head, but the words were a dry husk in my throat. All I felt was a frantic, buzzing confusion that made my bones feel like they were rattling apart. This wasn't me. I had to get away from this feeling.
I splashed cold water on my face, the shock a desperate attempt to wash away the lie. In the mirror, my own eyes were wide with a terror I didn't recognize. I stared, willing my heart to slow its frantic, panicked rhythm. I had made a promise to myself: no more confusion. I would explore these feelings, but from a safe distance. But that promise shattered when I learned my sister, Thanya, had her eyes on Thyme. The thought of stealing the person she liked, especially when my own feelings were so cloudy, was a knife to my conscience. Yet, every time I tried to turn away, a cruel flicker of déjà vu, a memory I couldn't place, would stop me dead in my tracks.
I splashed water again, more violently this time, desperate to feel something real. When I opened my eyes, the world buckled and twisted. The cool, white tiles of the bathroom were gone, replaced by the faded walls of my high school. My uniform, once dry, now felt heavy and damp. Was this a dream? I didn't have time to answer before a storm of broken memories flashed before me like a broken film reel.
A park bench. Thyme and I, sharing a single lunchbox, our hands brushing as we reached for the same fork. A vivid memory, but one that had always felt wrong, a glitch in my past. An amusement park. Thyme's laugh, bright and clear, echoing through the air as our hands were locked, our faces a blur of dizzying joy. Another memory I had always held, a solitary trip, yet now… he was there. A sun-drenched beach, waves whispering secrets, Thyme and I, a moment stolen from a life I couldn't remember living. The cold weight of a keychain against my palm, a twin to his, a promise given in a fragmented past.
Then, the images tore apart, a violent shatter of glass and color. Darkness. A suffocating void. The next thing I knew, I was on my knees on the cold bathroom tiles, my lungs burning, the smell of antiseptic thick in the air. "What were those?" I gasped, the words barely a whisper. "What is happening to me?"
A sharp, stabbing pain, a familiar fire, erupted at the back of my head, right where the metal baseball bat had struck me three days ago. The ache intensified, a rhythmic pulsing that hammered in my ears. My vision began to blur and dim, the edges of the room turning to a deep, encroaching black. What was this? Was this the end?
I woke to a familiar hum, a melody that felt both impossible and deeply known. It was a tune of warmth, of comfort, a sound that settled the frantic chaos in my soul. When I opened my eyes, my head was resting on Thyme's lap. A younger Thyme, dressed in the same high school uniform I had seen in my fragmented memories. He was looking at the sky, his eyes calm and peaceful, a placid blue without the pain or confusion I had seen in them moments before. He looked down at me, a soft smile on his lips.
"Did I wake you up?" he asked, his voice a gentle hum. A smile I didn't feel appeared on my face. "No," I replied, the word a stranger in my mouth. My body felt like it belonged to someone else. I slowly lifted my head and pulled his face closer. Our lips met. Why was I doing this? I couldn't understand. A moment later, his hands, embarrassed and gentle, pushed my head back down.
"Stop, Meta," he whispered, his face flushed. "We're on the rooftop. Someone might come."
"Why should I care?" I heard myself say, the words foreign on my tongue. "There's nothing wrong with kissing my boyfriend." The word "boyfriend" hung in the air, a physical weight. What? Boyfriend? Was this a memory? A dream? A new reality?
"I know it's not wrong," he said, the blush on his face deepening. "But we have to keep our relationship a secret for now. There are people we might hurt if they find out." We were in a relationship? A secret one? The confusion was a heavy fog that obscured all logic. I blinked, and the world shifted again.
I was running. My legs burned, my lungs ached, but I was running. Towards him. Towards Thyme. A blur of metal, the scream of tires, and an impossible choice. I pushed him, shoving him from the path of the oncoming car, a desperate, final act. The impact was not a crash, but an explosion of white-hot agony. "Meta!" That was the last word I heard from Thyme, a sound that tore through the chaos and was swallowed by the darkness.
I heard the familiar hum again, a melody that felt both strange and deeply comforting. I opened my eyes, and Thyme was there, sitting beside me on the bed, still humming that gentle tune. "You're awake," he said, his voice laced with relief. "I thought something was wrong. You were in the bathroom for so long, so I followed you and found you on the floor."
I was lying on the bed. Had I passed out? My head throbbed with a dull ache. I was supposed to be confused by everything that had happened, but now… it was all starting to connect. The broken memories, the feeling that some parts of my life were a lie—it all pointed to one thing: a past with Thyme that I had forgotten. I realized that the memories I had dismissed as strange were actually fragmented pieces of a shared history. A memory of being alone at an amusement park? Impossible. I would never go alone. A memory of having two lunch boxes? It wasn't a mistake; it was one for me, and one for him. An accident two years ago… I had forgotten so much, pushed it all away.
A new, chilling thought crept into my mind. Could my sister, Thanya, have lied about liking Thyme? Was it a trick to make me stay away from him? My heart ached at the idea of her betrayal. But this wasn't the time to question everything. I needed to investigate my past with Thyme, and staying away from him was no longer an option. The feelings I had for him, once so confusing, were now starting to make sense. He was my boyfriend. It was as if my heart had remembered what my brain had forgotten. It explained why, even though we had only known each other for a few days, we felt a deep connection. It was why we had cried on that beach—it was a memory of our past together.
"Uhm… Meta, are you okay?" Thyme's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Sorry," I said, a little too quickly. "I was just thinking."
He hesitated, his eyes full of a question he seemed afraid to ask. "What do you want to ask?" I prompted, knowing he wouldn't speak unless I pushed him.
"I… I saw the bandage on the back of your head," he stammered, his gaze fixed on my wound. "It's not that big, but what happened? Why do you have a bandage there?"
I took a deep breath, careful to hide the real reason. "I got into a fight," I lied, forcing a light tone. "It's a small thing, you shouldn't worry."
Thyme's face filled with a worry that made me feel both guilty and protective. It was better he thought it was a small fight than to know the truth—that his own admirers had done this to me to force me to stay away. But how could I stay away now? Now that I was remembering our past together? Yet, I couldn't tell him the truth, not until I was sure. I didn't want him to get involved in a problem he knew nothing about.
"Let's forget about that," I said, trying to change the subject. "Let's talk about what we were going to discuss before I… lost consciousness."
Thyme immediately panicked, his eyes wide. Even though he tried to hide it, I could see how uncomfortable he was.
"Please don't reject me!" The words burst from his mouth, a sudden cry of desperation. My eyes widened in shock, and he immediately covered his mouth, looking like he wanted to disappear. It was so unexpected and adorable, I almost laughed.
"I won't reject you," I said, my voice softer than I intended. "But can you give me more time to understand this situation we're in?"
He nodded, relief flooding his features, but his face was still red with embarrassment. "We both feel this strange connection," I continued, "this crazy feeling of being in love with someone we just met. It doesn't make sense, but it will once we know the truth. I don't want to hurt you or rush into things. We need to find the answers for ourselves."
Thyme nodded again, mumbling to himself. "Love? He said love… he's in love with me? Did I hear him wrong?"
I couldn't help but smile at how funny and sweet he was. "Stop mumbling, Thyme," I said, a light laugh escaping my lips. "We're not so dumb that we can't recognize love when we feel it. We're just doubting it because we only met recently. So let's take our time and figure it out."
This was enough for me. I felt a new resolve settling in my heart. Someone was trying to keep us apart, a person who might have been behind the accident in my past. I couldn't drag Thyme into this. I had to solve it on my own.