Chapter 2
LETTERS I NEVER SIGNED 💌PART TWO — The Girl at the DoorNia didn’t look away.
Neither did I.
For a few seconds, the entire classroom seemed to disappear.
Then she smiled.
Not a happy smile.
A nervous one.
The kind she used to give me whenever she knew I was about to ask a question she didn’t want to answer.
My stomach twisted.
I looked down at my notebook.
The letter was still there.
You still tap your pen three times when you’re nervous.
I glanced at my hand.
My pen was between my fingers.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I immediately dropped it.
Nia’s smile disappeared.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I almost laughed.
After everything that happened, that was what she wanted to ask me?
“I’m fine.”
She stepped into the classroom.
I closed my notebook.
“Why are you here?”
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“I have a class here.”
“No, I mean—”
“I know what you mean.”
Silence.
My classmates were starting to leave for the next lesson, but I stayed in my seat.
So did she.
Nia walked closer.
For the first time, I noticed how different she looked.
Her hair was shorter.
Her uniform was slightly untucked.
But her eyes were exactly the same.
And that was the problem.
Because I remembered those eyes.
I remembered the last time they looked at me.
I remembered what she said.
I’m never coming back.
“You got a letter,” she said quietly.
My heart dropped.
I stared at her.
“How do you know?”
She froze.
Just for a second.
But I noticed.
Nia looked toward my notebook.
Then back at me.
“I saw you reading it.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
She said nothing.
I stood up.
“Did you write it?”
Her expression changed.
Something flashed across her face.
Fear.
Or guilt.
I couldn’t tell.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But before I could say anything, someone bumped into me from behind.
My notebook fell to the floor.
Pages scattered everywhere.
I crouched down to collect them.
And then I saw it.
A third letter.
I hadn’t put it there.
My hands went cold.
I unfolded it.
Only one sentence.
You should’ve listened when she told you to forget her.
I stopped breathing.
Slowly, I looked up at Nia.
She was staring at the letter.
But she wasn’t confused.
She looked terrified.
“Nia?”
She didn’t answer.
I held up the paper.
“What does this mean?”
Her eyes met mine.
And for the first time since she came back…
Nia looked like she was afraid of me.
“No,” she whispered.
Then she grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t open the next one.”
My heart pounded.
“Next one?”
Nia went completely still.
She had said too much.
And we both knew it.
I slowly pulled my hand away.
“How do you know there’s going to be another letter?”
Nia stared at me.
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t have to.
Because somewhere behind us—
a piece of folded paper slid underneath the classroom door.
And this time…
my name was written on it.
END OF PART TWO. 💌
