Memories Between Us

4. MEMORY CLASH

IVY

If there was one thing I had learned during my two years at Brookside University, it was this:

College students would line up for free food faster than they would line up for free therapy.

“One cookie each!” I shouted from behind the volunteer table.

A guy wearing headphones grabbed three.

“I saw that.”

“I have roommates.”

“You have sticky fingers.”

He grinned and slowly put two back.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’ve been told.”

He walked away, muttering something about volunteers being too strict.

I smiled to myself.

Okay.

Maybe volunteering wasn’t so bad.

At least it kept my mind busy.

That was important.

Because the second my mind had nothing to do…

It always found Liam.

And I really didn’t want to think about Liam.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Not ever again.

“Ivy.”

I looked up.

Evelyn was standing beside me with a bottle of water in one hand and a sandwich in the other.

“You’ve been standing here for almost three hours.”

“So?”

“So you’re going to pass out.”

“I’ll pass out after lunch.”

She sighed softly.

“You need to sit down for a bit.”

Ria appeared beside us carrying another box of flyers.

“She threatened a freshman five minutes ago.”

“I did not.”

“You absolutely did.”

“I politely told him to stop taking six cookies.”

“He was hungry.”

“He was greedy.”

Lisha walked over laughing.

“I watched the whole thing.”

She looked at me.

“You pointed at him like an angry kindergarten teacher.”

“I was protecting university property.”

“They’re cookies.”

“They’re our cookies.”

The four of us burst into laughter.

For a few minutes…

Life felt normal.

No gossip.

No whispers.

No Liam.

Just my best friends making fun of me.

Exactly how I liked it.

Evelyn nudged my shoulder.

“So…”

I already knew that tone.

“What?”

“Have you seen your favorite hockey player today?”

I almost choked on my water.

“I don’t have a favorite hockey player.”

“The tall one.”

“No.”

“The sarcastic one.”

“There are probably hundreds.”

“The handsome one.”

I stared at her.

“I was with you yesterday.”

“So?”

“So you saw him.”

Ria sighed dramatically.

“You two argued for less than three minutes.”

“And?”

“And I’ve never seen someone annoy you so fast.”

“He bumped into me.”

Lisha folded her arms.

“You reacted pretty strongly.”

“He deserved it.”

“You called the entire hockey team brainless.”

“I stand by that statement.”

They laughed again.

Traitors.

“I’m serious,” I said.

“Hockey players are exhausting.”

Evelyn smiled.

“You kept talking about him after you left.”

“I absolutely did not.”

“You did.”

“I was complaining.”

“Still talking.”

I groaned.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Fine,” Evelyn said gently.

I exhaled.

They were the closest thing I had to sisters.

And after everything that happened last semester…

I needed them.

A volunteer coordinator hurried over.

“Ivy?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you take these registration forms to the administration building?”

“Sure.”

She handed me a thick folder.

“It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“On it.”

I waved goodbye to my friends.

“Try not to bully any more cookie thieves,” Evelyn called after me.

“I’ll try.”

I started walking across campus.

The weather was beautiful.

Students sat on the grass.

Some played music.

Others hurried to class while pretending they weren’t already late.

Brookside looked peaceful.

Which usually meant something was about to go wrong.

It was becoming a pattern.

I adjusted the folder under my arm.

Maybe…

Just maybe…

Today would surprise me.

Maybe nothing embarrassing would happen.

Maybe nobody would spill coffee on me.

Maybe—

“Seriously?”

I sighed.

I had spoken too soon.

Walking toward me was none other than Captain Sarcasm himself.

Ryder Hayes.

He wasn’t looking where he was going.

His eyes were glued to a folder in his hands.

His eyebrows were pulled together like he was trying to solve world hunger.

“Watch where you’re going,” I muttered under my breath.

He kept walking.

Still reading.

Seriously?

I moved left.

He moved left.

I moved right.

He moved right.

Was he following me?

“Seriously?”

I said it louder this time.

He didn’t even look up.

“Oh, come on.”

We took one more step.

Straight into each other.

Crash.

The folder flew from my hands.

His papers exploded into the air like white birds.

I stumbled backward.

My foot caught the edge of the sidewalk.

“Oh!”

Before I could hit the ground…

Strong hands grabbed my arms.

Everything stopped.

For one tiny second…

We just stared at each other.

His blue eyes met mine.

He looked just as surprised as I felt.

Not confident.

Not teasing.

Just completely caught off guard.

Like he had no idea what was happening.

Then…

His fingers brushed against my hand.

The world disappeared.

Not faded.

Disappeared.

The campus vanished.

The students vanished.

The sunlight vanished.

Everything around us broke apart like shattered glass.

“What—”

My voice echoed into nothing.

I wasn’t falling.

I wasn’t standing.

I was…

Somewhere else.

Warm sunlight touched my face.

The smell of fresh grass filled the air.

Birds sang from nearby trees.

Children laughed.

I blinked.

A backyard.

I knew this place.

I looked around slowly.

The old wooden fence.

The swing tied to the mango tree.

The tiny blue bicycle leaning against the porch.

My chest tightened.

“No…”

It couldn’t be.

A little girl ran across the yard.

She couldn’t have been older than six.

She wore bright yellow rain boots even though there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

Pink ribbons bounced in her hair.

She laughed while chasing soap bubbles.

“Daddy!”

She giggled.

“Look!”

A man laughed behind her.

“I’m looking, Pumpkin.”

My heart stopped.

Dad.

Not the father I knew now.

Not the tired man who stumbled through life smelling of alcohol.

Not the man who barely recognized me on some days.

This was…

My real dad.

Before everything changed.

Before addiction.

Before pain.

Before life broke him.

He looked younger.

Healthier.

Happy.

He picked little Ivy up and spun her around until she squealed with laughter.

“Daddy!”

“You caught the bubbles.”

“No!”

She laughed.

“The bubbles caught me!”

He laughed so hard he almost dropped her.

Tears filled my eyes.

I hadn’t seen him smile like that in years.

I didn’t even know I still remembered this day.

A voice beside me suddenly broke the moment.

“What the—”

I turned sharply.

Ryder.

He was right there.

But he looked nothing like his usual confident self.

He looked panicked.

Completely panicked.

His eyes darted around wildly.

“Okay— no— what is this?” he blurted.

“How am I in here again?”

He looked at me, then the yard, then back at me.

“Is that little girl you?”

“What the hell is going on?”

He took a step back like the air itself was wrong.

“I was just on campus— I was literally just—”

He ran a hand through his hair.

“Am I going crazy?”

His voice cracked slightly.

“Can you see me too?”

I nodded, barely able to breathe.

“I can see you.”

“That’s not comforting!” he snapped immediately.

He pointed toward the little girl.

“That’s you? That’s actually you?”

“I think so,” I whispered.

“I don’t know— I think so.”

Ryder stared at the scene again.

Then back at me.

Then at his own hands.

“This makes no sense,” he said quickly.

“No, no, no— this is not normal. This is not— I don’t do hallucinations.”

“We’re not hallucinating,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I believed it.

“Then what is this?” he demanded.

“I don’t know!”

Neither of us moved.

Neither of us understood.

We were both trapped inside my memory.

Young Ivy chased another bubble across the yard.

She laughed so loudly it made my chest ache.

I wanted to run to her.

I wanted to hug Dad.

I wanted to freeze this moment forever.

Without thinking, I stepped forward.

My foot passed through the grass like smoke.

I wasn’t really there.

Neither of us was.

Ryder noticed and froze.

“Okay— okay— that’s not normal,” he said quickly.

“We’re not actually here.”

“We’re watching a memory,” he said, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“My memory,” I whispered.

He looked at me sharply.

“Your memory?”

I nodded.

He exhaled shakily.

“Yesterday…”

I turned to him.

“What?”

“I saw this,” he said.

My stomach dropped.

“What do you mean you saw this?”

“I saw this little girl,” he said quickly.

“I didn’t know it was you.”

“You saw my childhood?”

“I didn’t know!” he snapped, then immediately looked overwhelmed by his own words.

“I thought I was losing my mind!”

Neither of us spoke again.

The silence pressed in.

Then—

Little Ivy suddenly stopped running.

Her laughter faded.

She slowly turned.

Not toward her father.

Toward us.

My breath caught.

Ryder stiffened instantly.

“Oh no,” he whispered.

“No, no, no— she can’t—”

“Daddy?”

Nicholas looked over from the porch.

“What is it, Pumpkin?”

She pointed directly at us.

“There.”

He followed her finger.

“There where?”

“I heard people,” she said softly.

“I don’t see anyone,” he replied.

But little Ivy didn’t look away.

She stared straight at us.

“I think…”

She whispered.

“They’re sad.”

A chill ran through me.

Ryder looked at me, completely shaken.

“I don’t like this,” he said quietly.

“Not even a little bit.”

The air cracked.

The sky split like glass.

Everything began to fall apart.

“No— wait—” Ryder reached out instinctively.

The world shattered into light.

Then—

We were gone.

Back on campus.

I gasped, stumbling forward.

Students rushed around us.

Someone grabbed my arm.

“Ivy! Are you okay?”

I blinked rapidly.

The administration building stood exactly where it had been.

The papers were scattered everywhere.

Ryder was a few feet away, sitting on the ground, breathing hard like he’d just run miles.

His eyes locked onto mine instantly.

He looked just as shaken as I felt.

“What the hell just happened?” he whispered.

And for the first time…

I had no answer.