A Love Once Known

I sat in my best friend, Tara Lane's, car. I was still traumatized by the airport incident.

Tara shoved a water bottle into my hand and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Oh my god, Ivan really went all out for you!

"Look! The drones are spelling out your name in the sky!"

I choked on the water and coughed as I stared at the flashing lights outside.

In my opinion, it looked less like a romantic display and more like the red dots of surveillance cameras.

"What kind of spell did you cast on Ivan back then? He takes the main seat at every reunion, and the moment he gets drunk, he starts shouting your name.

"His current girlfriend looks strikingly like you too. You should see how her face clouds over whenever he calls your name!"

I caught an important detail from her words. "Wait. Reunion? You mean he was in my class?"

Tara slammed on the brakes at a red light and turned to look at me, her expression somewhere between confusion and disbelief. "Does Classroom 7 from senior year ring a bell? Ivan sat just behind you, a little off to the side. He was such a quiet kid then.

"I never realized you were so sharp at spotting potential! You didn't even tell me you two had been dating all that time!

"And now look at him—a big shot. He even showed off your token of love at the school anniversary. It was a physics notebook, and the first page had your signatures with little red hearts doodled all around."

Her teasing sounded far too specific to be made up. A scowl crept on my forehead as I racked my head.

Suddenly, I remembered my notebook that had gone missing before a physics competition during senior year. I had searched everywhere and panicked to the point that it nearly cost me the championship.

"I was searching for that notebook for a long time because I needed it for a competition," my voice came out hoarse.

Tara's eyes widened as the memories struck her too. "That was the same notebook? I remember you were in tears looking for it!

"Hold on, are you telling me you really don't remember Ivan?"

I helplessly nodded. "I've told you a hundred times already! If I'd had a boyfriend in high school, don't you think someone would've noticed?"

As the light turned green, Tara stepped on the accelerator, and the car slowly moved forward. "So, you really don't remember him, huh? But why did the people in our class group chat…" She paused and hesitated before continuing, "They said you dumped him before you went abroad."

"What?" I shouted.

Tara nearly jumped out of her seat at my loud voice.

"What a classic tale! The brilliant beauty leaves behind the poor nobody, telling him not to wait while she goes abroad. The rejection drives him forward, and heartbreak becomes his fuel.

"In the end, he rises to become the CEO of Olsen Group, with a girlfriend eerily similar to the woman who once broke his heart."

She continued to ramble, but I lost focus on what she was saying.