Our Darkest Memories

3. When Old Friends Meet

He caught me gazing at it and he tried to hide it more behind his back.

"Wait, are you leaving?" I asked with disbelief.

His eyes widened and he started to play with a few little threads that were hanging loose from his shirt.
"Nope."

"You are a terrible liar."

He ran his hand through his hair and looked away. "Fine. I was gonna leave, but I'm planning to return."

"Yeah, right," I scoffed.

He took a step back.  "I really was. I just need to take care of something."

I heard honesty in his voice. "Well, even if I don't report you, you won't get far. It might seem empty here, but the whole camp is surrounded by guards. If you wanna leave, you first have to knock down a bunch of guys."

He sighed and looked up, thinking about his next step. After a small moment, he looked back at me and put on a fake smile. "Looks like I'm staying then."

He started walking back to the camp and I jogged after him to keep up with his big strides. A little silence passed until I finally found the courage to talk to him.

"Can I ask you something?"

He turned his head to me. "I don't think I can stop you."

"Okay, so... when you came here, you said my name. How did you know it? We haven't met before."

I curiously watched him and saw a little pain in his eyes when he answered: "We have met. You just forgot."

Before I could ask him about it, I  heard twigs breaking. We simultaneously turned our heads to the sound and faced an odd scene.

A girl, that I recognized as Nadia, stood in the middle of some bushes. The term 'like a deer in the headlights' felt very appropriate, as she was looking at us with wide eyes, her face a little shocked. One of her feet was still hanging in the air.

"Sorry," she whispered, while slowly putting her foot down on the ground.

For the first time, I actually studied the girl. She was medium-height. Her long, brown hair was hanging in a single braid over her shoulder. She was wearing black sneakers, black jeans, and a tight, hot pink crop top that showed her slim figure.

It wasn't something that I would personally wear, but it looked good on her.

She caught me staring at her and, thinking that I was judging her clothing style, she quickly defended herself by saying: "This was the only thing I had left."

"Oh, no, sorry. I like it, actually," I answered, giving her a reassuring smile. Her face showed a hint of satisfaction, as if she had wanted me to like her top.

She finally stepped out of the bushes and slowly stumbled towards us. Her shoes seemed to be a size too big, seeing as she wasn't walking comfortably in them.

"Erm... Well, this is awkward-" She smiled shyly, but unbothered by this uncomfortable moment. "-but I wasn't spying on you."

The Yellow and I looked at each other and then back to Nadia.

"Okay, so what were you doing then?" he asked her.

"Not spying on you, that's for sure."

I glanced at her and rolled my eyes.

"Okay technically, I wasn't spying on the both of you," she revealed hesitantly. "I was only spying on you," she said while turning to me.