"Is it true he's back?" Min heard as she tried to ignore the gossiping kids while she quietly dug into her locker, trying to be as covert as she possibly could despite accidentally slamming her elbow against the side of the locker door when she heard something that got the best of her.

Stupid thing, she thought as she narrowed her eyes at it scornfully.

"It's been a year," the other person added, "Think he's changed?"

Doubt it.

"Probably not. But he's not our problem. He's her's."

. She stilled, feeling their eyes drift to her, noticing how they referred to her. They noticed her, despite barely cramming half of her upper body in her own locker. She should've known it would be useless because even when she tried her best to act invisible, the exact way they all wanted her to be, she still found them zeroing in on her every single time. It was her senior year, she should be over this. the year should be breezing by without a hitch and yet here she was a nervous wreck, still counting her own steps to see how far she could get without anyone making a move against her. It was pathetic.

From the moment she woke up that morning she felt the shift in the air. Even before she got to school that morning she already suspected something was up. For whatever reason, everyone was on edge and that included her.

"Well, ." She came back to herself because it was the same person that had spoken earlier. "Speak of the Devil and he shall appear."

She didn't even bother to look around, or move, or do anything that would draw any attention to herself. Hell, she was afraid of taking a breath because she knew they weren't lying — she could sense his presence.

Instead, she stood there, half of her body still hidden behind the door of her locker, holding her breath as if breathing would give her away. Down the hall, she could hear the all-too-familiar sound of loud leather-clad footsteps against the linoleum floors, silencing the growing crowd of students.

Step after step, Min's palms began to grow sweaty, her breathing short and strained. By the time she felt him stop behind her, Min's heart was pounding in her ears and she could've sworn by the way it was beating violently against her chest that it was going to claw its way out and take off running.

Please, don't recognize me. Please.

It had been a year so surely he wouldn't remember her. Surely she had changed enough. She had even changed her locker. I changed everything about myself after he left. Please.

She closed her eyes and started wishing for a miracle, maybe the ground could open up and swallow her whole. Anything. Those short nerve-inducing moments spanned light-years and somehow she had managed to convince herself that m