When Hunter got to the cafeteria for her spare, Tristan was waiting.

“Hi.” The girl said quietly.

“Hi.” Hunter said back. “Everything’s back to normal.”

Tristan looked away, but not before Hunter caught a sad look on her face. “Yeah.”

“You were never in the caf before.” Hunter commented. “Where do you eat?”

“Teacher’s lounge.” Tristan forced a smile and pointed at her face. “Even among ability users, red eyes are weird.”

It had never registered in Hunter’s mind, but Tristan was Albino. Her hair was so pale, it was almost white, and her eyes were crimson.

“Oh.” Hunter rubbed the back of her neck. “I… I never noticed.” It sounded stupid, but she hadn’t.

Tristan shrugged. “It’s also for my protection.” She pulled a crane out of her pocket. It was tattered, and the pattern of the paper was faded. “My ability is one the government would never want to lose.”

Hunter stared at the crane. It was so old, there was no way Tristan’s ability could still be in it. But as she watched, its wing twitched. “Who’s it following?”

Tristan hesitated, then shoved the crane back into her pocket. “My old roommate. From when I was ‘Broken’.” She practically sneered the label. “Back then, they just took anyone they wanted. I never had a problem. I just refused to fold when I was there.”

Hunter was seeing a new side of the girl. Her face was contorted in disgust and contempt for the people at the broken farm. Her hands were clenched in fists of anger and her legs were shaking with rage.

The sight brought a hazy memory to her mind. A pale girl, not even six, shaking where she stood in a dark room. “I hate them.” She repeated over and over.

“Have we…” Hunter mumbled. “Have we met before?”

“You tell me.” Tristan walked past her and out of the cafeteria.

Something happened. Hunter knew there was something going on, but she didn’t know what. She knew she didn’t know everything. She was limited to what she could see and hear.

Just another day. She told herself again, taking her seat at the back table. She pulled out her book, but tucked it away almost immediately. There was too much on her mind to enjoy someone else’s story.

Laying her head on the table, Hunter closed her eyes and thought back to the events of the previous day.

Now that Jasper was safe, she could look back at their meeting. Her brother was so brave, risking his life for complete strangers. And he’d been just a kid when he’d rescued Mr. Ranson and Tristan.

How did he know? Hunter asked herself. If they were complete strangers, how did he know they were there?

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, the bell was ringing and Dan was sitting next to her.

“You really need to stop doing that.” She complained half-heartedly.

“You haven’t been yourself since yesterday.” Dan said softly. “I wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“Thanks.” Hunter smiled at him. “And, no, I’m not.” She wrinkled her nose. “I feel like I’ve…” she laughed at herself. “Like I’ve forgotten something.” She felt as if a large weight had been lifted from her chest and she laughed harder. “Is this what it feels like?”

“It’s hard to imagine.” Dan leaned back in his chair. “I keep forgetting that, sometime, people run late. That they run out of time.” He gave her a sideways glance. “And you keep forgetting that people forget.”

His words made Hunter laugh more, but he was right. Remembering everything didn’t bar her from overlooking the information. Sometimes, she pushed it away and pretended it wasn’t there.

Suddenly, she remembered something her brother had said to her when they were kids.

I’m not really erasing them. He’d said, placing a hand on her head. I’m just pushing them back and locking them away.

After that, Hunter had gotten really sleepy. When she’d woken up, her mom told her that they were moving to a new city. That was also the day she’d made Thomas promise to never erase Hunter’s memory.

“Something’s wrong.” Dan said, looking at her face. “What?”

“I have to go.” She whispered. “Tell Jasper I wasn’t feeling well.” She grabbed her bag and ran for the door.