The ringing of the bell made me bolt upright. That morning, I had a class with 11/A; my past self grabbed the math textbook and headed out of the room. Just before she moved out of sight, my eyes flickered to the desk where Joe was sitting. Joe had slowly set down the book he was reading and was staring at the door I had just exited.
Seeing him like that warmed my heart for some reason. It was adorable that someone who appeared so distant and indifferent from the outside would look after me that way—just like a cat waiting for me to speak.
"Why didn't I notice this before?" I lamented to myself.
Sometimes, the things we need most are right in front of our eyes, yet we act as if we are blind.
My mind was made up: "Yes, I'm going to talk to him. When I escape this hell and everything returns to normal, I'll offer him my friendship. This time, I'll be the one to take the first step."
I walked through the door and headed toward classroom 11/A. If I wanted to build a future with Joe, I first had to face the truth behind my kidnapping. I watched my past self until lunch break, but I didn't encounter anything strange—except, perhaps, for two students in 11/A holding hands throughout the entire lesson. Normally, I would have insisted they focus only on the lecture, but right now, that felt like a very insignificant detail.
When lunch break arrived, while my past self was eating, I began to wander the school corridors. As I passed classroom 12/B, I saw Glenn Jones and a few of his friends forcing Richard Williams up to the roof.
Glenn was a black-haired, green-eyed boy, the type who constantly caused trouble in my classes. Without a second thought, I began to follow them. When they reached the roof, they began to beat Richard brutally.
Richard was the top student in the school, but he was a withdrawn, antisocial boy. At that moment, I looked at him closely for the first time; his body was covered in a mix of old and new bruises. Glenn was laughing, screaming "freak" at him. No matter how many blows Richard took, he didn't utter a single sound.
That was the moment I remembered that face from the dark room perfectly.
My blood ran cold.
"Richard..." I whispered.
"So, it was you."