Old Memories....
770 Words
*1:23 AM.*
Aria lay in bed.
Blanket pulled up to her chin.
The fever was gone, but her body still felt heavy.
The only sound in the room...
_Humm... humm..._
The heater.
Her phone lit up.
3:00 AM.
Then darkness.
Sleep wouldn’t come.
Every time she closed her eyes...
College.
And in every memory...
One face.
_Gray._
#### *9 Years Ago - Freshman Year*
The library. Corner table.
Aria sat alone.
Hoodie over her head.
Typing notes.
_"Hey, quiet girl."_
She looked up.
_Gray._
Campus king.
Basketball captain.
Behind him...
William. James. Noah. Liam.
All laughing.
_"I’m talking to you."_
Gray picked up her pen.
Threw it across the room.
Aria picked it up.
Said nothing.
Saved her work.
Walked out.
And that day...
He gave her a name.
_"Black."_
The whole campus used it.
#### *Storage Room - Room No. 3*
Behind the Arts building.
Dark. Dusty. Old chairs.
One day she forgot her charger.
Went back.
The door was locked from outside.
_"Hello? Anyone?"_
She knocked.
Gray’s laugh came from outside.
_"Black, chill. Sit in the dark for two minutes.
Maybe you’ll learn to speak."_
Ten minutes.
Just her breathing.
And outside...
_Click. Click._
His friends recording.
When the door opened...
Gray was the first.
Phone up.
_"Smile, Black."_
Then he stopped recording.
No one asked, _"Are you okay?"_
They just laughed.
And left.
That night she showered for two hours.
Like she could wash the dark off her skin.
#### *Campus Cafe*
_"Yo Black, want coffee?
Dark roast. Suits you."_
Gray, with his friends.
_"This table’s ours.
The floor’s free. Sit there."_
_"Why don’t you come to parties, Black?
Oh right... no one invites you."_
Every day.
A new way.
Books knocked from her bag.
Her name last on group projects.
Mic turned off during her presentation.
Aria took it all.
Went home.
Told Nani: _"College is fine."_
A lie.
#### *Graduation Day*
Final year.
Awards for everyone.
_"Best Student." "Most Active." "Brightest Mind."_
Names were called.
Applause.
Photos.
Her name was never called.
Last...
_Gray_ walked to the mic.
Grinned.
_"One award left...
'Most Silent Girl.'
This goes to Black."_
300 people laughed.
Clapped.
Someone filmed it.
Aria took the award.
Walked off stage.
Threw it straight in the trash.
And walked out.
That was the last time she saw him.
---
#### *Today - 1:47 AM, in bed*
Aria opened her eyes.
Her pillow was wet.
She didn’t even know when she cried.
Notifications on her phone.
_“Isn’t this our college call girl?”_
_“Isn’t this the Black girl Gray used to bully?”_
No one said her name.
They didn’t need to.
Small town.
Rumors spread fast.
_“Everyone called her a call girl.
But she wasn’t.”_
No one asked how she felt...
Locked in that storage room for ten minutes.
No one asked how many times...
The word _"Black"_ shut her up.
No one asked why...
That graduation video was still on someone’s phone.
They only saw Gray’s joke.
Not Aria’s pain.
She sat up.
Pulled the curtain.
Outside, snow was melting.
Streetlight reflected on the wet road.
Just like that night.
The night they locked her in.
She covered her face with both hands.
Took a deep breath.
_I’m not weak._
_I’m not broken._
_I was just silent._
She grabbed her phone.
Opened Notes.
`My name is Aria.
In college, Gray and his friends called me "Black."
They locked me in a storage room.
They recorded me.
They mocked me.
And today people talk about me because of that.
But the truth is...
I wasn’t ruined.
I was just alone.`
Her finger hovered over _"Post."_
She stopped.
Deleted.
_The city isn’t ready for the truth yet._
She put the phone down.
Went to the kitchen.
Water.
Medicine.
She came back.
Pulled out an old sketchbook.
First page:
_“For Mom. I will be okay.”_
Today she added a new line under it:
_“For me. I am not Black anymore.
I am Aria.
And I choose when to speak.”_
Tears in her eyes.
But her heart felt lighter.
*2:30 AM.*
Lights off.
Blanket on.
For the first time in nine years...
She slept with the door unlocked.
Because tonight she wasn’t scared.
They should be scared.
Gray. And people like him.
Who thought the quiet girl...
Would stay quiet forever.
Last thought before sleep:
__Nine years ago, Gray locked me in._
_Today, I’m setting myself free._
Outside, snow started falling again.
But inside Aria’s room...
It wasn’t cold anymore.
It was warm.
Her warmth.
*To be continued...
- Writer
