Chapter Three - New Beginnings But Old Ghosts

The first day of senior year arrived with an eerie stillness that hung in the air, like the calm before a storm. The familiar bell tower of St. Phillips Academy chimed from afar, its sound echoing over the perfectly manicured lawns and grand stone buildings. 

It had been a year since Harper was in the thick of therapy and juvie, where long days were spent unraveling the trauma from Camp Redemption. A year of painful reflection and gradual healing. A year in which she had tried to rebuild herself—her identity, her sense of belonging—but now, standing at the edge of the life she once knew, everything felt like it was about to shift again.

As she walked through the front gates, Harper tried to remind herself that this was just the first day. She could handle it. She could make it through this final year, one day at a time. But the weight of uncertainty hung heavy on her shoulders, and she couldn't shake the feeling that everything was shifting around her, leaving her scrambling to catch up.

She adjusted her backpack and made her way toward the lockers, where the familiar hum of students gathering, gossiping, and preparing for the school day filled the air. It was all so ordinary, yet to her, it felt foreign. She paused in front of her own locker, fingers brushing the lock, but her eyes were drawn to the adjacent lockers.

Millie and Vivienne's lockers.

They had both been cleared out over the previous summer—like they had never existed in the first place. Millie had gone off to university, and Vivienne had followed her, taking her own path and leaving behind a legacy of laughter, gossip, and shared memories. Now, the lockers were empty, the remnants of their presence erased.

 New names were etched on the small pieces of paper stuck on the front, marking their new owners, but for Harper, it felt like a gaping hole in the wall of her high school life. She could almost hear the echoes of their voices, their laughter, the way they used to tease her about everything—from her hair to her crushes to her mood swings.

A twinge of sadness washed over her as she lingered for a moment, staring at the vacant spaces, the dull metallic doors, now cold and lifeless. It felt like she was leaving something behind, too, and it was more than just those lockers.

"Harper?"

The sound of her name snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Blake approaching, his familiar smile lighting up his face. He looked older now—more mature, with his dark hair longer and a bit tousled. His eyes, though, were still the same. Warm. Kind.

"Hey, Blake." she greeted, forcing a smile as he stepped up to her.

Blake studied her for a moment, a small frown forming on his lips. "You okay?" he asked, his voice gentle. "You look... well, like you're a million miles away."

Harper shrugged, her smile faltering slightly. "Yeah, just... thinking about things, I guess."

Blake's gaze softened, and he leaned against the lockers, crossing his arms. "I get it. You've been through a lot."

He paused, his eyes searching hers for something. "You know, I've been thinking about you a lot over the summer. I mean, it's been a year and a bit since everything..."

Harper's heart gave a small, painful squeeze at the mention of her time in Warren Institute. The therapy. Juvie. The long hours spent untangling the trauma from camp. The nights when she thought she might not make it out of the dark place she'd gotten stuck in.

"I'm okay, I think.." she said, but Blake saw right through her. He always had.

"You don't have to pretend around me, Harper." Blake said softly. "I get it. I just... I want to make sure you're really doing okay. You know, with everything. I saw what happened with you and then you went through all that stuff at the camp..." 

He trailed off, his voice faltering as if the weight of their shared history was too much to bear. "How have you been, really?"

Harper felt a lump form in her throat, and for a moment, she didn't know how to respond. She could feel the weight of everything crashing down on her—the year of therapy, the isolation from her friends, the pressure of trying to find herself again.

"I've been... trying." she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's hard, though. I feel like I'm supposed to be over it by now, you know? Like I should be fine. But... some days, it still feels like it's all right there, just waiting to break through."

Blake's expression softened, and he stepped a little closer, offering her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to be fine. Not all the time. And you're allowed to have bad days. You're allowed to take your time. We all have our stuff."

Harper nodded, grateful for his understanding, but a new wave of discomfort settled in her chest. She wanted to ask him about his own life, about everything he had been through since they last talked, but something held her back. She hadn't even asked him how he was doing.

The silence between them stretched out for a moment before Blake spoke again, his voice quieter now.

"By the way, I wanted to tell you... I'm dating someone now!" His words hit her like a sudden gust of wind, unexpected but gentle. He seemed hesitant, almost unsure of how she would take it.

Harper blinked, caught off guard. "Oh? Uh... who?"

Jake seemed to hesitate, glancing around the hallway before his eyes met hers again. "His name is Kyle. We've been talking for a while now. He's in our history class. I'll introduce you sometime."

Harper's heart skipped a beat, and for a second, she felt... nothing. Not sadness, not even jealousy. Just a hollow kind of calm. She had always known Blake was the type to follow his own path, to figure things out for himself, and she could tell from the way he spoke that he was happy. She was happy for him. She had to be. She was grateful for his contribution to the 'fake relationship.'

"That's great, Blake." she said softly, managing a smile that she hoped conveyed her sincerity.

He smiled back, though there was a certain quietness in his expression that Harper couldn't place.

"And you... I don't know what's next for you, but I hope it's a good senior year." he added, his voice full of warmth.

Harper nodded, swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat again. She wasn't sure what was next either. Cheerleading? Maybe. She had thought about trying out for it, but the idea still felt like a distant dream. There were too many pieces of herself she had to put back together first. But maybe, just maybe, this year could be different. Maybe this year, she could find her place again.

"I'll figure it out, I always do." she said, more to herself than to him.

As they stood there, the bell rang, signalling the start of the school day. Harper flinched, the sound of loud noises clearly had the trauma attached to it. Harper and Blake exchanged one last awkward smile before heading off in different directions, the weight of unspoken words lingering between them.

Harper walked down the familiar halls of St. Phillips, her mind still swirling. She couldn't help but wonder if this year would finally be the one where she stopped feeling like she was drifting. But as she passed by the empty lockers, the ones where Millie and Vivienne's names had once been written in bright, colorful chalk, she realized something.

It was time for her to make her own mark. Even if it meant stepping out of the shadows.