A fallacy?

The hallway was silent. No creaks of a house settling around. No raindrops bounced off the worn clay tiles on the roof, not even her footsteps making noise as she took her stride towards him. They realized they'd been holding their breaths.

"What exactly do you remember?" Lorek asked with hesitation.

"When I was being punished, I used to hear all the doctors or whoever they might be talking to. Just a few days before they released me I overheard a conversation. It wasn't that clear but they were surely talking about something related to changing memory and how some strong minds take time to adapt...or something like this." Adrina supported her head with her hand as she tried hard to remember the conversation she heard.

Lorek's eyebrows were raised and wrinkles were appearing on his forehead, his jaw slightly slacking, "Is that even possible?" he mumbled to himself.

Adrina gave him a look and finally stood up. "Well," she patted his shoulder, "my part is done here. I have to move and meet my mates."

"Huh?" Lorek nodded as Adrina made her way to the other room.

For the first day, he thought and thought and thought. The second he stared out the window in a funk. By day three, he’d thrown back his shelf and strapped on his books and it was already time for the FIRST LETTER.

"And I got nothing," he sighed as the book in his hand slipped onto his face. "At least it was a soft landing!"

If he closed his eyes, he would be enveloped by the orchestral sounds of people chattering, and footsteps hitting the pavement. A line of sight would encompass dark clouds, tall school buildings, crowds of people, and the excitement surrounding the First Letter if he opened them. Inside, the engulfing surge of excitement and satisfaction would overwhelm his senses and emotions.

"Feels good to be back?" Eve chuckled.

"Sure does. I feel like I've been away for a million years!"

"Yeah, it's been so long I'm sure the dinosaurs have come back again!" Lue remarked as she jumped on Eve from behind.

Eve shook her back, "Oii, get down!"

"Not happening" Lue giggled.

"AAAARRRGGHHHHH," She said noisily in vexation, "GET OFF MEE! GET OF MEE" she tried to kick Lue down with her other leg. Listening to Eve's voice Ayaan noticed as he was passing by and came running and jumped on her as well.

"Hahaha," Lue let out a laugh, "That's my buddy."

Eve lost her balance and fell to the ground. "Lorek....help me." Her voice cracked.

Lorek watched them bewildered and Eve got all angry with them.

He had the odd sense that he had been in this situation, doing the exact same thing. He watched, as someone called out for his help, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember how it had ended.

He furrowed his brow, trying to remember as he was interrupted in between.

"What happened?" Ayaan asked. "Why are you so quiet?"

He sighed, "Nothing. Guess I am just nervous about the letter."

Ayaan smiled, "Don't worry, if it's bad news, we can always burn it and pretend it never happened!"

Lorek cracked, "what?"

The clock struck twelve. It's time. The whole school became quiet. The students and teachers are all waiting for the announcement.

"Good afternoon everyone. The Ixtal student's association got the first letter of invitation, and I'm pleased to announce, it's a boy from grade 10 B, Ayaan Hatzi. Congratulations on scoring the highest points in the Cadet test. The next letter will come tomorrow and it will continue like this until the final letter. Thank you!"

Everyone shouted in happiness and congratulated Ayaan, with some students even giving him a standing ovation. Ayaan was beaming with pride and was surrounded by many of his classmates, all wishing him luck and success. He thanked everyone for their support and encouragement. It was a proud moment for all of them or maybe most of them. Except for Lorek who can't seem to figure out what is happening in his head. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had experienced the exact same morning incident before, but the details were just beyond his grasp. He tried to recall, but it was like a dream that slips away as soon as you woke up. He had the feeling he knew the answer, but he just couldn't access it. 'Did they really mess up our memories? If so, then why? And an even bigger question is 'How?''

The school ended in the blink of an eye, and in that time, he had forgotten almost everything he had learnt. He probably couldn't concentrate on his lectures today. His memories had been wiped clean, like a computer's hard drive after a factory reset. Ayaan invited all the cadet test people to a reunion because he wanted to thank them for their support and encouragement. He was proud and grateful to have gone through difficulties with them. Lorek, however, was determined to find out about the memories that were missing.

It was almost time for the school gates to be closed and they haven't decided where to celebrate this big occasion. The security guard gives them an annoying look as if they are doing some sort of crime by standing there and discussing.

"No! That's why I said you should all just come to my house." Eve countered, "Don't you want some delicious snacks?"

"Oh come on, Ayaan got the highest point so he should treat us to his house," Lue debated, "Right, Ayaan?"

"Um... I don't want to be the highest scorer if it means I have to treat everyone to snacks!"

"Whose side are you on?" Lue asked with a funny expression on her face.

Lorek took a deep breath and said loudly, stopping the bickering that had been going already for fifteen minutes straight, "You all just crash at my place at five. Eve's house is near so you can just go and bring your snacks." He started walking off as he completed his sentence, "and I have something to tell you all too."

"Is it just me or has Lorek seemed quite stressed out for a few days now?" Ayaan asked.

"Maybe he's just been eating too much of his own cooking!" Eve replied as she watched him walk away.

Everyone stood there in silence trying not to laugh, but the comment was too funny to ignore. Ayaan let out a chuckle and then the rest of the group joined in.

As promised the group gathered at Lorek's house at exactly five in the evening. Eve took out all the snacks she packed from her bag one by one as she held her head high in triumph. While Lorek was nowhere to be found in the room.

"Where did he go?" Berick asked

"To the bathroom," Eve said, "I guess."

Lorek had two problems: communicating his thoughts and his cousin.

He was supposed to be having fun in his room. However, for the last ten minutes, he had been hovering in his small bathroom trying to think of a clear and clever way to explain how he interpreted the information Adrina gave him.

--Knock knock--

Someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Buddy, are you all right?"

It was Beric.

Lorek opened the door immediately and that made Beric jump a bit.

"Oh, don't do that, Lorek! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Lorek didn't say anything and passed him and rushed into his room. Beric followed him swiftly, expecting an explanation.

"Beric" Lorek called out softly, "Take a seat"

All of them were sitting at the table. In a semi-circle. Perfect. He thought. He was able to see everyone, which was probably not the most appropriate thing to do. For him.

"Ok! I won't beat around the bush and get to the point I have been thinking about for the past few days."

"We have been waiting for it" Beric raised his glass

"I met Adrina a few days back when I returned to the hospital to have a checkup on my burns." He slid into the nearest chair and explained the entire incident. All of them listened to him carefully, as he recounted the details of how he had met Adrina and how she was being punished and everything she had overheard.

"And," Lorek slammed the table, "what's more, today in the morning when Lue was on Eve's back and how Eve was asking for my help-"

"That was for survival" Eve interrupted, "Hmph, or else I would never ask for your help"

Lorek gave her a side eye and continued, "That moment felt way too similar. It gave me goosebumps. It was as if the scene itself was being recreated in my mind." He paused for a moment looking at them and said, "As if some disgusting dripping-like creature jumped on someone and called out my name...it hit my mind with a bang, like- just like- that." He tried to gesture with his hand."You know."

Kayan pondered what Lorek just explained to them and finally said, "So, what you are trying to say is that someone has replaced our original memories with fake ones?"