The rain came hard that night. Ayla sat by the window of her dorm, the message still on
her phone screen. She read it again. The words didn't change, but the chill they brought
deepened.
"You shouldn't have come back."
She locked her phone and stared out the window. The school grounds glowed under wet
light. Somewhere beyond those trees was the courtyard where everything fell apart five
years ago.
A knock broke the silence.
Her roommate, Zara, peeked in. "You okay? You've been staring at that window for anhour."
Ayla forced a half-smile. "Just tired."
"Right. Because coming back to the most toxic school in the country isn't stressful at
all." Zara dropped onto her bed. "He saw you, didn't he?"
Ayla didn't answer. She didn't need to. Zara's eyes softened. "You still hate him?"
Hate didn't cover it. It was sharper. Older. Built from something that once looked like
friendship.
"Let's say I haven't forgotten," Ayla said.
Zara stretched out. "Then don't give him the power to mess with you again."
Easier said than done.
When Zara slept, Ayla pulled a small box from under her pillow. Inside were folded
notes, old photos, and a worn bracelet. The ghost of her past. One photo showed her
and Elian, both thirteen, standing at the academy gates. They had matching smiles, mud
on their uniforms, and secrets in their eyes.
Back then, they were unstoppable together. Until the betrayal. Until the competition
that ruined everything.
She remembered that day. The math competition finals. He'd promised to help her win,
then exposed her answers as "copied." The principal believed him. She was expelled in
disgrace.
Her family left town that same week. Her dreams crumbled.
She clenched the photo until her fingers trembled.
"Never again," she whispered.
The next morning, she walked into class and saw him sitting in the back row. The seat
next to him was the only one open.
Their teacher looked up. "Ayla, take the seat beside Elian. I expect you both to work
together on the semester project."A low murmur ran through the room. Elian leaned back, eyes full of quiet amusement.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.
He smirked. "Guess fate likes a rematch."
Her chest tightened. Fate had nothing to do with it. She'd come back for one reason—to
ruin him like he ruined her.
At lunch, she walked past his table, pretending not to hear his laughter. A group of
students whispered behind her. Words like "cheater," "expelled," and "liar" still
followed her name.
Then, as she left the hall, someone slipped a folded paper into her hand. No one was
around when she turned.
She opened it.
"He lied that day. You were never the one who cheated."
Her heart stopped.
The paper wasn't signed.
She looked around the empty hallway. Rain fell outside again, quiet and steady.
Somewhere in the distance, Elian's voice carried through the corridor.
If he didn't betray her, then who did ?