It's the second day of school. Aunt Abbie drops off Judy first, who passes me a handful of candies, and she drives me to school before heading to work.

My sneakers squeak across the floor. I head down the hallway towards my locker to grab my books for today's classes. As I punch in the password on the padlock, I sense a presence looming beside me. Someone opens the locker right next to mine, takes out a couple of books, before slamming the locker a lot harder than necessary. The loud bang is enough to make me jump and my head snaps up.

I turn to meet the person with a curious look. My eyes instantly meet a pair of dark, emerald ones and they stare back at me coolly.

Kyle is wearing a black hoodie matched with a pair of slim-fit jeans with rips in them. His hair is tousled and slightly wet at their ends from walking in the rain. The sight itself is enough to make girls swoon and faint. Most would have believed that he might have walked straight out of a Vogue magazine. That is how insanely good he looks, except that his twisted lips and grumpy face might have ruined it all.

He eyes me with distaste. "Seriously?" he says in a disgruntled manner. "We're locker neighbors now?"

I wince at the harshness in his tone. From the beginning, he has already clearly displayed his dislike of me, but I'm still clueless at the reason behind his hostility. Nothing makes sense to me and the growing confusion is slowly making me lose my mind.

I ask quietly. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

At my question, he stiffens. He turns slowly to face me with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What?" he hisses. "Do you really not know the answer to that? You don't remember what you did to me? And what had happened between us?"

Shriveling under his glowering eyes, I bite my bottom lip nervously. "I really don't know," I admit honestly. "Tell me. Please."

Kyle shakes his head at me incredulously. Clearly, he thinks that I'm still putting on a facade and acting like an innocent lamb.

Hurt flashes in his eyes for a brief second, but it's replaced by rage quickly. "You're unbelievable, Riley Perez," he scoffs. "First, you cruelly dumped me through a text message. And now you show up in my school more than a year later and pretend as if you don't know me? What are you scheming underneath that mask of yours?"

My eyes grow wide in shock. His revelation has rendered me speechless, but I finally understand the root of his anger. The reason behind those cold-hatred looks that he gives me all the time.

Is he telling the truth? Were we really a couple in the past?

"I–"

I fumble for words to explain myself, but nothing comes out of my mouth. Originally, the plan was to keep my amnesia a secret from everybody in school, mainly because I don't want to be the center of attention and gossip. But in this case, is it even possible for me to hide this from an angry Kyle? To tell him I have lost all my memories of him?

He rolls his eyes at my silence. "You don't have to answer me," he tells me, his words cutting deep into my skin. The glare he shoots at me makes my heart clenched tightly. "Just stay the hell away from me."

He steps away from me, turns and heads for his class. At the end of the hallway, a pretty brunette clad in a crop top and mini skirt skitters to his side, hooking her arm through his. Her face is flawless, which is achieved by the make-up that's applied to her professionally. Her figure is tall and slender, looking as though she can pull off any clothes — something that all girls admire.

Is she his current girlfriend?

"Kyle!" I hear her call his name in an alluring tone. "Who were you speaking to?"

"No one," he replies coldly. They both stride off to class together and not once did he even bother looking back at me.

Guilt rams into me like a truck. If he's right... If I had truly dumped Kyle like he said, what am I going to do? How should his wrath be assuaged? How am I going to survive for the rest of my high school, knowing that I'm bound to run into him again?

***

After classes end, I leave the school grounds as quickly as possible, making my way to Aunt Abbie's workplace with the directions that she has given me. The only reason I've gotten used to taking public transport is all thanks to her taking Judy and I out often to places. I get onto the bus and hop off a few stops later, finding myself standing in front of a small but chic-looking building.

Happynest is a small cafe that's owned by my aunt. Famous for its coffee and scrambled eggs, customers flock to the business during the mornings and afternoons. This is the first time that I've been to the place and I'm eagerly looking forward to it. After taking the first step into the cafe, I fall in love with the aesthetic vibe immediately; white walls, luscious green plants lining along the walls and good natural lighting. The smell of scrambled eggs makes my stomach rumble instantly.

Aunt Abbie is standing behind the counter. When she sees me, her face lights up with a smile.

"Riley!" she exclaims and walks over to me. "You made it!"

She leads me further inside and fusses over me like how she usually does. Asking how school was and the friends that I have made so far. The employees there—Joel, Betty and Maya—are warm and friendly. They tell me they are happy to see me back in Lakeshore and doing well.

I'm seated in a booth right by the window and Aunt Abbie brings over a plate of food and a homemade chocolate drink made by Maya. I dig into the scrambled eggs and chew on them slowly, watching my aunt at the same time.

She notices the way I'm frowning. "What's wrong?" she asks. "Is something bothering you?"

I swallow my food and shake my head. "It's not a big deal, but I've a question..." I drawl slowly, unsure of how to approach the subject. "You told me I used to live on the other side of this town. Did I used to have any friends? Or even a...boyfriend?"

Aunt Abbie leans back into her seat, her hands clasp on the table. She studies me for a second, before popping the question, surprised.

"Did you meet that boy? Kyle?"

There's something in her eyes that tells me she knows more than just his name. And this confirms the fact that Kyle has been speaking the truth about us. About our past.

The moment I nod, Aunt Abbie exhales in relief.

"The last time I saw him was at Happynest, right after you broke up with him and left town," she admits. "He was looking for you, but I didn't have a single clue about your whereabouts then. Afterwards, he stopped coming. I wasn't sure what happened to him, but I believed he and his mother had moved away. Your families were close, but not to mine."

"Months later, when the accident happened, and you were hospitalized, I tried looking for him. I didn't have their contacts. I went to Lakeshore South High School, but they told me he pulled out of their school," Aunt Abbie explains. "But now I know why. It seems like he has switched to the north school."

The scale of this town isn't that big, but it isn't small enough that people would bump into everybody. So it explains why Aunt Abbie can't find him. "He's mad at me for breaking up with him." I pause briefly. "Do you know the reason I did that to him?"

My aunt shakes her head. "I don't know. It might have gotten something to do with how you needed to leave town with your mother in a rush. She didn't tell me the reason, but she said she wanted to move homes. To provide you with a better and safer environment. Till today, I do not know what she meant. After all, Lakeshore is a safe town to begin with."

I don't understand either. "Kyle hates me now," I groan out loud. "And I don't know how to face him in school."

"Oh, hon." Aunt Abbie takes my hands and squeezes them, giving me a soft smile. "Trust me, Kyle definitely doesn't hate you. He's never that kind of person to begin with." Her eyes shine with so much conviction, her voice sounding so certain that I almost believe her.

"He used to be so madly in love with you," she says, "and I reckon he still is."