After seeing Hilda, something inside her changed. Instead of avoiding the girl, she moved closer to her. She started visiting her class often, finding little reasons to talk to her and eventually becoming her friend. At first, it seemed harmless. Hilda was kind, and their friendship grew naturally. But every time she looked at Hilda, something else happened inside her. The resemblance to James kept pulling old memories to the surface. The more time she spent around her, the more she found herself thinking about him again. She remembered his voice, his calls, the promises they had made, and the way she had once believed he would always be part of her life.
She tried to fight the feelings, especially because Jacob was now in her life. Jacob had been there when she was trying to forget James. He had given her attention, written her letters, composed a song for her, and made their relationship something everyone talked about. She knew she owed him honesty. But the heart doesn't always follow the plans we make for it.
Her feelings for James kept growing.
Eventually, she couldn't keep pretending anymore.
This time, she decided she would write to him openly. No more anonymous letters. No hiding behind words he might never know came from her. She took a piece of paper and wrote her name, her school, and enough details for him to know exactly who she was.
Her hands trembled as she sent the letter.
For once, she wasn't hiding.
She waited.
And then James replied.
When she saw his response, her heart raced. He had given her his details too. It felt as though a door she had locked months ago had suddenly opened by itself.
They began talking again.
Saturdays became special.
They could spend hours talking on the phone, catching up, remembering the past, and telling each other about their lives. She would go to a phone call center and spend money simply to hear his voice. Sometimes she knew she was spending more than she should, but she didn't care. Hearing James again felt worth every coin.
She could sit there for hours, listening to him.
The world around her would disappear.
She wasn't thinking about school.
She wasn't thinking about Jacob.
She wasn't thinking about the pain of the past.
She was simply talking to James.
And slowly, the two of them found their way back to each other.
They were together again.
She was happy.
But happiness came with guilt.
Jacob was still there.
He had feelings for her. He had invested his time, his attention, and his heart in their relationship. She knew she couldn't continue keeping him close while secretly returning to James.
That would be cruel.
So she made a decision.
She told Jacob to step back.
It wasn't easy.
She knew she would hurt him.
But she believed hurting him with the truth was better than keeping him while her heart belonged somewhere else.
"I don't want to hurt you more by keeping you," she told him.
Perhaps Jacob didn't understand immediately.
Perhaps he thought she would change her mind.
But she had already made her decision.
Her heart had returned to James.
And for the moment, that was all she could think about.
She didn't know whether James would stay this time.
She didn't know whether the old wounds between them could truly heal.
She didn't know what the future held.
She only knew that after months of silence, she could finally hear his voice again.
And that was enough to make her believe that maybe the story wasn't over.
Maybe they had simply taken a wrong turn.
Maybe this was their second chance.
Maybe this time, James would choose her.
She held onto that hope tightly.
She didn't know that sometimes a second chance isn't the same thing as a happy ending.
Sometimes it is simply another opportunity for the same person to teach you a deeper lesson.
But she wasn't thinking about lessons.
She was thinking about Saturdays.
Phone calls.
Long conversations.
And the boy she thought she had finally found her way back to.
James was back.
And so were all the feelings she had tried so hard to bury.