The following week was a whirlwind.
Serena started texting me again—mostly sarcastic jabs at my fashion sense or asking if I'd finally learned how to use the new software. Ashe invited me to study group. Somehow, both invitations felt like a trap.
One afternoon, I found myself walking between them on campus. Serena was talking about a robotic lab she joined, and Ashe was nodding while scribbling ideas in her planner.
I didn't say much.
They were from my past—two different pieces of who I used to be. But now they were here, and so was I.
I was starting to remember the better parts. The laughter. The shared jokes. Even the fights. All of it seemed… brighter this time.
I don't know if it meant anything, but I knew what I wanted to try.
At night, I found myself alone in my room, phone in hand, staring over Ashe's contact.
I typed and erased message for fifteen minutes before finally sending one:
"Hey. Do you want to catch up sometime? Just the two of us."
No reply.
For a second, my courage wavered.,
But then—
"Sure."
I start air boxing out of nowhere then lay on my bed.
Somewhere deep down, something clicked.
Maybe this was my mission now: not to relive the past, but to rebuild what mattered.
With one of them.