"You were never supposed to remember me"

She was the last to leave the classroom… at least she thought she was… when the door slammed shut behind her. Lights click off, darkness swallowed the room, her scream cuts through silence. She pounded the door, voice cracking, panic rising.

A low voice comes from the shadows… her rival. She freezes, recognizing it. Anger crashes into fear. She crosses her arms, forces her breathing steadily, but refuses to show weakness.

“So… you’re still screaming after all these years?” he said, voice low but sharp.

“Shut up! Don’t think I’m afraid of you,” she shot back.

“Afraid? You should be,” he replied.

“Hate me, do you?” she demanded.

“Maybe. Maybe not. That’s not for you to decide,” he said, calm but unnerving.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered.

She forced herself to listen to her own heartbeat, trying to push down the sudden surge of adrenaline. Why had the door locked behind her? Why now? It had been years of arguing, of competing, of constant irritation whenever they cross paths in the hallway, at the cafeteria, or in class projects. And yet, standing here in darkness, every old annoyance and insult felt sharper, more immediate. She wasn’t just angry anymore… she was trapped, literally, and with the person who had made her life miserable.

“You’re stuck here with me,” he said, his voice low, deliberate. “There’s no escape. Whether we want to or not.”

She whirled toward him, panic and fury colliding.

“You did this on purpose! To get back at me, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging, “maybe not. What makes you think I care about getting back at you?”

She stepped back and nearly tripped over the edge of a desk.

“You’ve been ruining my life since freshman year! Everything I do, you somehow…”

“I? Me? You’re the one who started it!” he shot back. “Do you even remember how many times..”

“Watch it!” she snapped, shoving him lightly. “Careful!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you can’t see,” he retorted, stepping aside just in time to avoid her outstretched hands.

Her breathing was ragged as she pressed her palms against the cold metal door. Why did it have to be him? Of all people… she thought, frustration and disbelief mixing with panic.

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I can,” he said simply, pacing the room. “Funny thing about it, though… it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Not as bad?” she echoed, incredulous. “Locked in a room with you? In the dark? Not as bad?”

“Yes,” he replied, calm and infuriatingly collected. “You’ve always been too… dramatic.”

Her hands shook as she tried the door again.

“I can’t see a thing. How are we supposed to get out?”

“We wait,” he said, voice carrying a hint of amusement. “There’s nothing else to do. Might as well talk while we’re here.”

“Talk?” she spat, crossing her arms. “Like old times? Or are we still competing for who can be the bigger…”

“You know,” he interrupted, stepping closer, “you’re surprisingly loud for someone so panicked.”

She froze, swallowing a scream, realizing there was no point yelling anymore. In the darkness, the anger was still there but so was… something else. Something she couldn’t quite name.

Silence settled over the classroom like a heavy curtain. They had been sitting on the floor for minutes, the only sound of her ragged breathing and the distant hum of the building. She couldn’t take it anymore.

With a sudden burst of panic, she leapt to her feet and bolted for the door, pounding on it, screaming for help.

“Let me out! Someone… please!” Her voice cracked, echoing off the walls.

He sprang up as well, moving to intercept her.

“Wait! Stop!” he shouted. She whirled around, eyes wide, and nearly collided with him. “Stay away from me!” she yelled, shoving him hard. He stumbled back a step, catching himself, but didn’t retreat.

“Calm down!” he said, hands raised defensively, though his jaw was tight. “I’m not trying to hurt you!”

“Not trying to hurt me? You’re the reason I’m trapped here!” she shot back, fists clenching.

“Don’t make this worse!” he barked, taking a step closer. “I’m just trying to…”

“You’re impossible!” she screamed, swinging her arms as if to push him back again. Her heart pounded in her ears. She could feel every beat, every quick inhale, like it was shaking her from the inside out.

He caught her wrists before she could strike him, holding her at arm’s length.

“Look at me! His voice cracked slightly, raw and urgent. “We must think, not fight. Yelling won’t get us out!”

“Then let go!” she shrieked, twisting, nearly pulling him off balance. “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

She froze for a split second, breathing hard, fists still raised. Why is he suddenly tolerating me? she thought, confusion mixing with lingering fear. The way he was acting now…it wasn’t like before. He wasn’t a bully, not like he always had. It seemed different. Almost… considerate. She couldn’t believe it.

The room fell into an uneasy silence. She sank to the floor, her back pressed against the cold wall, trying to calm her racing heart. For a few moments, neither of them spoke; the only sound was the faint hum of the lights overhead. She could feel the tension coiling in her muscles like a spring ready to snap.

“I can’t believe we’re still sitting here,” she muttered, more to herself than to him.

“You’re welcome,” he said dryly, leaning against a desk. “You seem… relaxed.”

She glared at him. “Relaxed? Do I look relaxed to you?”

“You’re not panicking,” he replied, voice calm, almost teasing. “Interesting.”

A sudden burst of relentlessness made her spring to her feet again.

“I can’t just sit here!” she cried, pacing, kicking a stray chair that tipped over with a clatter. “There has to be a way out!”

He followed her cautiously, hands slightly raised.

“Careful,” he said. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Watch it!” she snapped, nearly shoving him out of the way.

“I don’t need your help!”

“You don’t have a choice,” he said, his tone firm but not harsh. “We’re stuck. Might as well cooperate.”

She spun around, eyes wide. “Cooperate? With you? After everything?”

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how we survived group projects together. We could manage this too, if you stopped screaming at the walls.”

She froze, a flicker of reluctant acknowledgment crossing her mind. His voice—usually sharp and mocking—was strangely steady. There was something different in the way he watched her, something… patient, almost protective.

For a long moment, neither moved. The dark room pressed in around them, heavy and silent, and she realized, with a pang of frustration, that she didn’t know whether to be angry or… something else entirely.

The room had gone still, but the silence was suffocating. She backed into the far wall, chest heaving, hands trembling. “Why… why are you just standing there?” she demanded.

He opened his mouth, but no words came. His usual sharpness, his teasing smirk — it was gone. Instead, his eyes flickered with something she didn’t recognize.

Then the voice came. Low, cruel, unmistakably hers, but harsher, sharper than anything she had heard before.

“I always knew you’d never change,” it hissed, echoing off the walls. “You’ll always be the same… weak, loud, annoying. You’re my rival, and you always will be. Don’t think otherwise.”

Her head whipped toward him. “What… what are you doing?” she yelled. “Stop this!”

He stepped forward, hands raised as if to intervene. “No… no, that’s not me…” His voice trembled with fear, the first crack in his composed exterior.

“Friend?” the dark voice spat. “I wouldn’t dare call you my friend — you’re not worthy of that.”

Her stomach dropped. The words stabbed her like knives. She pressed her palms over her ears, backing up against the wall. “Why… why him? Why is this happening?”

Then another sound — faint, metallic, almost a whisper — came from the shadows behind them. “You thought he was the enemy?” it said. “You’ve been blind. You’ll never win against me… never change, never learn.”

She spun, looking for the source, but saw nothing. “Who are you?” she screamed.

The rival, the one she had known her whole life, looked torn. He wasn’t speaking cruel words, but his eyes reflected the weight of them. “I… I tried,” he whispered, his hands shaking. “I can’t…”

“You always ruin everything!” she spat at him, confusion and fear mixing in her chest. “I trusted you! I thought… I thought maybe you—”

“I always knew you’d never change,” the voice repeated, sharper this time. “You’ll always be my rival. I wouldn’t dare call you, my friend. Everything we were… lies. Do you understand now?”

Her heart raced. Panic, anger, and disbelief surged together. The world had shifted, and she didn’t know who to trust anymore. The room, once a simple trap, had become a cage of shadows, voices, and emotions she couldn’t untangle. And as she stared at him — the boy thought she knew — she realized that nothing about this night would ever be the same.

She tried to move, tried to run, but her body wouldn’t obey. It was as if invisible hands had pinned her to the floor, or maybe… she was trapped in something else. She looked down and gasped — thick ropes, tied tight in knots, coiled around her wrists and ankles, securing her to a chair. Panic surged through her chest.

“Who-what is this?” she stammered, voice shaking.

The cruel, low voice spoke again, slowly and deliberate. “You thought you knew him. You thought you could trust him.”

Her eyes widened. “Him? He… he—what are you saying?”

The voice continued, each word like a hammer. “He’s the one who planned this. He set it up. Every detail. He cannot be trusted. If you knew the truth, you would be in danger.”

She froze, unable to breathe properly. No… no, this isn’t possible. He wouldn’t—

“He did this for a reason,” the voice hissed. “He’s not who he says he is. Everything you believed… it was all part of the plan.”

Her head snapped toward him, searching his eyes. The boy she had known her whole life, the one she had argued with, feared, and hated in equal measure, looked… different. Conflicted, hesitant, his face pale as he avoided her gaze.

“You…” she whispered, voice cracking, “you… set this up?”

He shook his head, but she could see the weight in his expression. “I… I had to. I couldn’t let you know… not yet.”

The voice echoed again, almost gleeful: “Do you understand now? Every step, every lie, every fight — all part of it. He couldn’t show his true self. He couldn’t risk it. You’re trapped, and the truth is finally coming to light.”

Her mind raced. Every memory, every encounter… were they lies? Was he lying to me? Was he hiding from me… or protecting me?

She tried to struggle against the knots, heart pounding, but the ropes held firm. The darkness of the room seemed to close in around her as the voice continued, relentless. She could only stare at him, frozen, heart hammering, realizing that everything she thought she knew about him — her rival, the enemy, the boy who had made her life miserable — was only a fraction of the truth.

And the moment she understood that the room seemed smaller, the shadows deeper, and the stakes higher than she had ever imagined.

She was still tied to the chair, wrists and ankles burning from the tight knots, heart hammering in her chest. He stood a few feet away, hands raised slightly, eyes flickering with guilt and something else she couldn’t name. The room felt smaller, darker, as if the shadows themselves were watching.

“I… I had to make it seem like I hated you,” he whispered, voice rough. “I couldn’t let anyone know… not yet.”

Her mind stuttered. Hated me? What are you saying?

“Do you remember the playground?” he continued, voice low. “The summer before the fire?”

Her chest tightened. A faint image flickered in her mind — sunlight on the swings, a small hand gripping hers. Laughter, soft and fleeting, but familiar. She shook her head, trying to chase it away.

“I was always there,” he said, taking a cautious step closer. “Even when you… when you forgot me. Even when you didn’t remember.”

Another flashback: a small kitchen, her crying after a fall, someone catching her gently, whispering, “It’s okay… I’ve got you.” She gasped. That voice — his voice — her rival’s voice? She blinked rapidly. Could it be?

“I… I don’t understand,” she said, voice shaking, fear and confusion twisting together. “Why did you… everything you did…”

“I had to protect you,” he admitted, his own voice breaking. “You don’t know who wanted you gone… who would have hurt you if I didn’t make them think I was your enemy.”

Her memories collided with his words. Faces, moments, fleeting touches, laughter, tears — all slowly forming a picture she had buried. He wasn’t just her rival; he had always been there, guiding her, guarding her, even from the shadows she couldn’t see.

Tears burned her eyes. “All these years… I thought you…” Her words faltered, disbelief echoing in the room.

“I couldn’t risk it,” he said softly, eyes locked on hers. “You wouldn’t have survived if you remembered too soon. I had to wait… had to make sure you were ready to understand.”

Another flashback hit — her, smaller, falling into a river of panic during a childhood game, his hands catching hers at the last second. The memory, long suppressed, surged back with crystal clarity. It was him. It had always been him.

Her voice shook, barely a whisper: “You… you were there. All this time… protecting me?”

He nodded, a sad smile tugging at his lips. “Yes. Every step. Every fight. Every argument… it was never what it seemed.”

Her chest heaved, disbelief and awe battling in her heart. The ropes felt less like a trap and more like the final threshold between her ignorance and the truth she had finally seen.

She exhaled, trembling, realizing the enormity of what she had discovered. The boy she had hated, feared, and argued with all her life was the same boy who had quietly kept her safe from dangers she had never known.

He stepped back, shadows falling across his face, voice barely audible:

Her hands trembled against the ropes, but it was no longer the bindings that made her feel trapped. His face, the boy she had hated and feared all her life, softened as he spoke, voice heavy with regret.

“I… I never meant for this to happen,” he said. “Everything I did… it was supposed to protect you. Not… not this.”

Her mind spun. Memories collided with his words — flashes of sunlight, laughter, falls he had saved her from — the pieces fitting together in ways she hadn’t expected. It wasn’t supposed to end this way…

He reached toward her, but his hand passed through nothing. Her eyes widened in shock. “No… what—?”

“I miscalculated,” he whispered, stepping back. His body began to blur, fading into the shadows like mist. “I thought I could keep you safe without you knowing… without remembering. But the plan… it backfired.”

Her breath caught. “You… this isn’t real, right? Am I dreaming?”

“You’re awake,” he said, though his figure continued to dissolve. “Every memory, every moment — it was real. But now… you know. You’ve seen too much.”

She wanted to move, to speak, to beg him to stay, but her voice failed. The room felt impossibly large, empty, echoing with the weight of everything she had learned.

He paused, eyes locking with her one last time, full of sorrow, regret, and something almost like hope. Then he whispered the words that would haunt her forever:

“You were never supposed to remember me… not ever. It wasn’t supposed to end this way.”

And then he was gone.

The ropes no longer restrained her, but she did not move. She sank to the floor, trembling, heart pounding, mind racing between disbelief and awe. The boy who had been her rival, her enemy, her protector — he had been all those things, and more, and now he was gone, leaving only the truth behind.

In the stillness, she realized the full weight of what she had uncovered: a lifetime of secrets, protection, and love hidden beneath the guise of hatred. And as the shadows of the room swallowed the last traces of him, she whispered into the silence, still trying to understand, still trying to believe…