Chapter 13: A Future I Don't Remember

Not knowing frightened me more than I expected.

Until now, every major event had a shadow from my previous life.

I knew which insults would come.

I knew how the school would fail me.

I knew Greer's uncle story was false.

I knew the people around her would eventually turn on one another.

Now the timeline had changed enough that my memories were becoming useless.

I sat awake long after my mother fell asleep on the couch.

At 1:17 a.m., I opened the folder where I'd stored everything.

Greer's original post.

My hospital photograph.

Her fake visitor record.

The group chat.

Mason's threats.

The anonymous photograph of Dr. Lowe.

I created a timeline.

Not because I knew the answer.

Because I didn't.

The prepaid phone had been purchased by Mason.

It had messaged me.

It had also messaged Greer.

Someone anonymously sent me evidence about Greer and Dr. Lowe.

Why?

If the goal was to protect Greer, sending me the photograph made no sense.

If the goal was to destroy Greer, threatening me made no sense either.

Unless there were multiple people.

Or unless someone wanted both of us frightened.

I closed the laptop.

The next morning, Principal Warren called me into his office before class.

My mother joined by video.

Officer Ramirez was already there.

Greer's parents sat on the opposite side.

Greer herself looked terrible.

Her eyes were swollen.

For the first time, I didn't see the girl who had destroyed me.

I saw a seventeen-year-old who was scared.

That didn't erase what she'd done.

But it changed the room.

Principal Warren began.

“Because the police investigation now involves communications directed at multiple students, we're separating the criminal investigation from school discipline.”

Mr. Pierce nodded impatiently.

“Then can my daughter return to class?”

“She may attend under a no-contact plan.”

Greer stared at the floor.

Officer Ramirez looked at both of us.

“Neither of you should respond to unknown numbers, anonymous emails, or attempts to arrange meetings. Send them directly to us.”

I nodded.

Greer whispered, “Okay.”

Her voice sounded nothing like the one that had ordered me to delete my reply.

After the meeting, we left through different doors.

At lunch, I found an envelope inside my locker.

My whole body went still.

I didn't touch it.

I called the nearest teacher.

Then security.

Officer Ramirez was contacted.

The envelope was opened in the office while I watched from several feet away.

Inside was a printed screenshot.

A message exchange.

Greer: “I did what you said.”

Unknown: “Then keep your mouth shut.”

Greer: “Imogen wasn't supposed to fight back.”

Unknown: “Handle her.”

At the bottom, someone had typed:

“Ask Greer who told her to post the photo.”

My skin prickled.

Principal Warren looked at me.

“Have you seen this before?”

“No.”

“Do you know who the other person is?”

“No.”

That was true.

Officer Ramirez took the paper.

“This could be fabricated.”

I nodded immediately.

“Like the fake messages about me.”

He gave me an approving look.

“Exactly.”

Greer was brought in.

The moment she saw the screenshot, her face drained of color.

Ramirez noticed.

“Is this conversation real?”

Greer said nothing.

Her father stepped forward.

“She doesn't answer anything without counsel.”

Greer looked at him.

Then at the screenshot.

“Dad.”

“Not a word.”

She closed her mouth.

But I had seen her reaction.

So had everyone else.

That afternoon, classes blurred past.

I kept thinking about the line.

Imogen wasn't supposed to fight back.

Maybe it was fake.

Maybe someone had built it from scraps of truth.

But if it was real, Greer's post hadn't begun as a random act of cruelty.

Someone had encouraged it.

Why would anyone care about me?

I was a scholarship student.

My mother worked two jobs.

We had no money, no influence, no family feud with the Pierces.

At least, none that I knew of.

When I got home, my mother was sorting old mail at the kitchen table.

I sat across from her.

“Mom, did you know the Pierce family before I came to this school?”

Her hands stopped.

It was tiny.

Almost nothing.

But I saw it.

“Why would you ask that?”

My heartbeat changed.

“Because someone may have pushed Greer to target me.”

My mother looked away.

“Teenagers bully people for stupid reasons.”

“That's not an answer.”

She stacked the envelopes too carefully.

“Imogen, don't dig into things that aren't connected.”

I stared at her.

“You sound like you know something.”

“I don't.”

Too fast.

My mother stood.

“I'm making tea.”

“Mom.”

She stopped at the counter.

I had been reborn to save her.

I didn't want to hurt her.

But secrets had already killed us once.

“Please don't protect me by hiding things.”

Her shoulders trembled.

Slowly, she turned around.

“Your father,” she said.

I forgot how to breathe.

My father had died when I was six.

At least, that was what I'd always been told.

My mother sat back down.

“There's something I should have told you years ago.”

And suddenly, the future became even less familiar.