And till now...

  For some reason, every person I met back then ended up in the same high school as me.

  I thought things would change when middle school ended.

  I was wrong.

  By lunch, I was already sitting alone.

  Same habit. Different building.

  The cafeteria was loud. Trays clattering. People laughing and stuff.

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  I kept my head down.

  Then I heard my name.

  "Cody."

  I didn't look up at first.

  "Kira," I said quietly, like I already knew.

  She stood there for a second before slowly sitting down.

  "Can we talk?" she asked.

  I stared at my food.

  "We are talking."

  She exhaled softly. "I mean... about middle school."

  There it was.

  The word I didn't want to hear.

  "Cody, please," she said. "Forget about the past. It was stupid. We were stupid."

  I finally looked at her.

  "Were we?" I asked.

  She didn't answer right away.

  "I didn't mean for things to go that far," she said. "None of us did."

  John's laugh echoed from across the cafeteria.

  He wasn't even part of this conversation.

  But somehow, he was always there.

  I looked back at Kira.

  "Some things don't just disappear," I said quietly. "Even if you want them to."

  She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue.

  Then she closed it.

  For the first time since high school started...

  Someone from my past was actually sitting in front of me.

  And I didn't know if that made things better.

  Or worse.