The room buzzed with their chatter, still half-focused on the messages from Laven. It left an unsettling taste—something wasn't adding up, and they all knew it. Lemon leaned against the table, arms crossed, her mind tangled in thoughts.
"She just forgot they were six?" Scarlett muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"She didn't forget," Lemon said quietly. "She pretended to."
"Why would someone do that though?" Autumn asked.
Evelyn exhaled deeply. "Because maybe she has something to hide…"
Riley shifted uncomfortably. "Or maybe she's scared."
Silence filled the air for a moment. Then Lemon straightened up. "Let's get out for a bit. I need a breather before my brain melts."
Autumn nodded. "Library?"
"Yeah, let's go. I also need to grab that psychology book," Evelyn added.
The three of them made their way through the quiet corridor of the hostel, steps echoing. It was still cloudy outside, wind rustling the trees like whispers no one could interpret. The air felt heavy—not just with weather but with something else too.
They reached the university's library wing. Lemon was just about to pull the door open when—bam! Evelyn stumbled back, books nearly flying from her hand.
"Hey! Can't you see?! Don't you have eyes?!" she snapped.
The girl who had bumped into her didn't even turn around. She walked away swiftly, her steps quick, nearly anxious.
"What the hell—rude much?" Evelyn muttered, brushing off her hoodie.
But Lemon's eyes followed the figure as she disappeared around the corner. Her breath caught in her throat.
That girl.
The fresher.
The one from her first day—the girl she thought she knew somehow. And now, seeing her again, that feeling came rushing back, stronger than before.
It hit her like a wave.
That girl… there was something off about her. Not in a scary way. Just… a sense of familiarity. Like they had shared a secret at some point in another lifetime.
Autumn noticed Lemon's expression. "You okay?"
"That girl," Lemon said slowly, not looking away from where she vanished, "I've seen her before. The first day....She looked at me like… like she recognized me."
Evelyn raised a brow. "Wait, are you saying you know her?"
"I thought I didn't. But now… I'm not so sure."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"She didn't even apologize," Evelyn muttered, annoyed.
"Maybe she didn't want to be seen," Autumn offered, quietly.
That sentence lingered in Lemon's head.
"Maybe she didn't want to be recognized," Lemon whispered.
She didn't say anything more. But her heart was thumping fast now—she knew there was something buried here. The feeling was too sharp to ignore. Something forgotten. Something that had slipped away in time, waiting to be found again.
They entered the library, but Lemon's mind wasn't with the books anymore.
It was with the girl.
The girl who walked away like a ghost from the past.
And Lemon had a feeling… she wasn't going to stay in the shadows for long.