The night was quiet in the dorm room. Avarina had gone to sleep early, leaving Ere'ana alone with her thoughts. She sat cross-legged on her bed, the glow of her phone lighting up her face as she scrolled through her messages with Jack.
They'd been talking more and more lately, and their text thread was full of jokes, random memes, and late-night conversations that made her heart flutter. For someone who used to avoid relationships, she found herself growing more attached to Jack by the day.
As she scrolled back to the beginning of their messages, she noticed something strange. At the very top of their chat history, just before their "first" conversation, was a small notification: [Deleted messages available—tap to view.]
Ere'ana froze. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What deleted messages?
Her finger hovered over the notification. It felt intrusive, like opening a locked diary that didn't belong to her. But curiosity gnawed at her, and before she could stop herself, she tapped it.
The screen refreshed, and suddenly, the entire tone of the chat shifted. The date stamps showed these messages were from years ago—back when she was a freshman. And as she read the texts, her heart dropped.
Jack: I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this.
Ere'ana: Because you don't listen to me, Jack! You're always angry, and I can't deal with it anymore.
Jack: Oh, so now it's all my fault? You're the one who keeps nagging me about every little thing.
Ere'ana: I'm not nagging, I'm trying to talk to you! But you don't care, do you? All you care about is yourself.
Jack: That's not fair, and you know it. I've been trying, but you just keep pushing me away.
Ere'ana: Because you have a short temper, Jack! You scare me when you get like that, and I can't take it anymore.
The texts blurred in her vision as tears welled up in her eyes. She scrolled further, reading message after message from a past she thought she'd left behind.
Jack: So that's it? You're just giving up?
Ere'ana: I'm not giving up, Jack. I'm choosing myself. I'm sorry.
Ere'ana's hands trembled as she stared at the screen. It all made sense now—the strange feeling she'd had when she first met Jack this year, the way his voice sounded so familiar, the way he looked at her like he already knew her.
Jack wasn't just some random guy she'd started dating. He was her ex.
Her first love.
Her first heartbreak.
"Oh my god," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
She set the phone down, her mind racing. How could this have happened? How could neither of them have realized?
Jack had changed so much since freshman year—his hair was shorter, he was taller and more muscular, and he carried himself with a confidence he hadn't had before. But underneath all that, he was still the same Jack. Her Jack.
No wonder he felt so familiar.
For a moment, Ere'ana thought about waking Avarina, but she hesitated. What would she even say? That she'd accidentally stumbled onto the most shocking revelation of her life? That she was now dating the same person she swore she'd never speak to again?
Her chest felt tight, and she could feel the sting of tears threatening to spill over.
She picked up her phone again, staring at their recent messages. Jack had been nothing but sweet and thoughtful to her lately. He wasn't the same hot-headed boy she'd broken up with all those years ago. He'd grown. He'd changed.
But did that mean she could trust him again?
Ere'ana scrolled back down to their latest texts. The most recent one was from earlier that evening:
Jack: Goodnight, Ere'ana. Sweet dreams.
She stared at the message, her heart aching. Did he know? Had he figured it out yet?
She bit her lip, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. Should she confront him? Ask him if he remembered her? Or should she keep quiet and pretend nothing had happened?
The thought of bringing it up terrified her. What if it ruined everything? What if Jack decided she wasn't worth the trouble?
But the idea of staying silent felt just as wrong.
Taking a deep breath, Ere'ana typed a message:
Ere'ana: Jack… can we talk tomorrow?
She hesitated for a moment, then hit send.
The rest of the night was restless. Ere'ana tossed and turned, her mind replaying every interaction she'd had with Jack since they reconnected. There were so many moments that felt like déjà vu, so many little things that made sense now.
By the time her alarm went off the next morning, she felt like she hadn't slept at all.
Avarina noticed immediately. "You look like crap," she said bluntly, handing Ere'ana a cup of coffee. "What happened? Did you and Jack fight or something?"
"No," Ere'ana said quickly, shaking her head. "It's… it's nothing. Just a bad night."
Avarina frowned but didn't press further.
Ere'ana spent the entire day avoiding Jack. She skipped lunch and ignored his texts, too overwhelmed to face him just yet. But as the day wore on, she knew she couldn't avoid him forever.
After their last class, Jack caught up with her outside the building.
"Ere'ana," he called, jogging to her side. "Hey, are you okay? You've been acting weird all day."
Ere'ana stopped, her heart pounding as she turned to face him.
"Jack," she said softly, her voice trembling. "We need to talk."
Jack frowned, his expression serious. "Okay… what's going on?"
Ere'ana took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I… I was looking through our messages last night, and I found something."
Jack's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Ere'ana hesitated, then pulled out her phone. She opened the chat and scrolled to the top, showing him the deleted messages.
"Jack," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're… you're my ex."
The color drained from Jack's face as he stared at the screen.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Then Jack looked up at her, his eyes wide with shock. "Ere'ana… I had no idea."