Harper didn't sleep that night.
She couldn't.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that smile again—the mirror-version of herself, standing too still, too calm, with eyes that weren't hers. A version of Harper that didn't remember pain, or joy, or Jamie.
But most terrifying of all?
A version that obeyed.
Harper sat cross-legged on her bed, the photograph lying between her fingers like a sacred artifact. She traced the outline of Jamie's smile in the picture, proof that he had existed–and still did. That memory couldn't be stolen. Not now.
Or so she hoped.
Jamie met her the next morning behind the science block, where the cameras couldn't reach.
"I didn't sleep either," he admitted, voice low. "I went through my old notebooks. My sketchbook from eighth grade?"
He pulled it from his backpack.
The first few pages were empty. But then, halfway through, Harper saw it–an old drawing of Room 13A. A rough pencil sketch, jagged lines and shadows. A figure standing by the door, faceless.
"That's not even the weird part," Jamie said.
He flipped one more page.
And there–drawn in red ink–was Katherine Quinn.
The same hairstyle. The same eyes. The same locket Harper had found in the archives.
And beneath it, written in Jamie's handwriting:
"She never left."
Harper looked up at him, shaken. "How do you remember her?"
Jamie rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't. Not until I saw this. It's like… the drawing remembered for me."
A Plan to Remember
They knew now that memories could be hidden—buried in places the system couldn't fully wipe. Drawings. Photographs. Scars.
So they made a plan.
"If we record everything," Harper said, "they can't erase it all. We'll create backups. Diaries. Voice memos. Even if they wipe our minds again, we'll find our way back."
Jamie nodded, already scribbling a date onto the back of the photo. "Like anchoring ourselves."
But before they could finish, Harper's phone buzzed with a notification.
*EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN DRILL - ALL STUDENTS TO MAIN HALL - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
Jamie froze. "That's not on the calendar."
"It's them," Harper whispered. "They know what we're doing."
They stuffed the photo and sketchbook into her bag and started running.
But as they turned the corner toward the main hall, Harper halted.
Every locker was open.
Every single one.
And inside each, taped to the back wall, was the same thing.
A printed photo.
Of Harper and Jamie.
Labeled in bold:
"Subjects of Interest – Must Be Reevalute Immediately"
No More Hiding
Panic pulsed in Harper's chest, but this time, she didn't freeze.
She turned to Jamie, eyes blazing.
"They want us to forget?" she said. "Fine. But not without a fight."
Jamie smiled grimly. "Let's make them remember us instead."
Harper rolled her eyes."Is it line from some new movie you watched recently because it sounds very cheeky"
Jamie looked at her dead-pan "it is not time for this see the emotions not the line and if we win we sure will make them remember us.now can we focus on the situation "
Harper looked at him serious but smiling "yes sure"